It isn’t going to happen overnight, but the Natchez-Adams School District’s highest administrators say major academic improvements are coming. Concerns have been identified, needs are known and a road map is in place at every district school to make this year’s state test scores higher than last year’s.

Failure to meet one No Child Left Behind federal regulation by only a small margin in 2003-2004 placed one school in the district and therefore the entire district in year 1 of School Improvement, a label that requires a written plan of action.

Robert Lewis Middle School is in School Improvement because too few white students and students with disabilities took the Mississippi Curriculum Test, not because of the scores the school’s students received.

Because of the test-day absences, Superintendent Anthony Morris said attendance is something the district is working to improve year-round, but it isn’t the largest red flag last year’s test scores sent up.

&uot;Our biggest concern is the depression of scores as the grades go up,&uot; Assistant Superintendent Larry Little said. &uot;The further you go the further behind you get, and the gap continues to widen.&uot;

For example, 61.9 percent of the district’s second-graders scored proficient in reading last year, but that number dropped to only 42.5 percent by eighth-grade. In math 69.5 percent of second-graders were proficient, while in eighth-grade only 26.9 were proficient.

Morris said the district stresses the early grades as foundation grades, but the only step for the students who lack that foundation is remediation.

Several district schools offer an extended-day program and after-school tutoring for children who score poorly on state tests. MCT test scores are available on an individual student basis, and teachers can use them to identify problems.

&uot;At the beginning of the year the teacher looks at the rosters and determines the areas of weakness,&uot; said Coordinator of Assessment Charlotte Franklin. &uot;They can group them and teach accordingly.&uot;

On the district level the scores are also used to evaluate teachers and pinpoint teachers whose students scores may drop, Franklin said.

Third- and seventh-graders are required to pass the benchmarks on their MCT test in order to pass to the next grade. Those who fail to pass the benchmarks are eligible for a retest and review by an external board in order to proceed to the next grade. Once a student fails a benchmark the district takes immediate remediation action, starting with notifying the parent, Franklin said.

Ideally, remediation begun after third-grade benchmark tests will catch problems before they escalate as skills are added on in each higher-level grade, Franklin said.

Yet, another major concern for the district is the number of high school students who do not pass the Subject-Area Test and therefore cannot graduate.

Students take the Algebra I, Biology I, U.S. History, English II multiple choice, English II narrative and English II informative tests for the first time while they are enrolled in the respective course. If they fail the test they have five opportunities to retest prior to graduation.

The high school offers after-school tutoring in each subject area, yet many students do not attend the program. Franklin said classroom teachers work to make the students familiar with the test format, but last year’s scores did not show improvement in all categories.

Another concern for the administrators is discipline in all the schools and the effect it has on attendance and test scores.

&uot;The greater the discipline problem tends to be, the lower the test scores are,&uot; Little said. &uot;A student in ISS (in-school suspension) is not getting the quality education they would be getting in the classroom; out-of-school suspension children are not getting any.&uot;

The district revised the discipline procedure this year making out-of-school suspension the punishment for only the most severe infractions in an attempt to keep students in class. Robert Lewis Middle School is also offering Saturday detention.

&uot;It’s little bits and pieces that will ultimately make a difference,&uot; Little said. &uot;Discipline, practice tests, monitoring teachers and teaching for the test, it takes time. It’s not going to be turned around in Dr. Morris’ second year.&uot;

Morris, whose first year was last year, brought four new building principals with him.

&uot;We have a year under our belt now,&uot; Morris said. &uot;They’ve stabilized things and are really looking at what teachers are doing with the curriculum.&uot;

The new principals at Frazier Primary, Morgantown Elementary, McLaurin Elementary and Natchez High were joined by a new administrator at Robert Lewis Middle School this year. Morris and Little said they were happy with the leaders at each school.

&uot;I’d be terribly disappointed if I didn’t see a marked increase (in scores),&uot; Little said.