West Elementary School was honored by the Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS, Inc.), Mississippi’s only statewide educational consortium, as a 2018 Value-Added Award recipient. West Elementary School third grade students earned the highest scores in the state in math on the 2017 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, propelling the school to an A rating.
The PREPS Value Added analysis allows for valid comparisons of educational performance on the prior year’s state testing while taking into account the impact of differences in the socioeconomic background of the students considered in the research. The model is used in the PREPS Value Added Awards Program to identify high performing schools among Mississippi public school districts who are members of the PREPS Consortium. Schools which are deemed as adding value are those performing significantly better than other schools with comparable socioeconomic circumstances.
Dr. Andrea Smith, Director of School Assessment and Intervention and former principal of West Elementary School, along with third grade math teacher Deborah Brown, were recognized for this achievement during the Mississippi Education Partnership Conference awards luncheon hosted by PREPS and Mississippi Partners in Education.
