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Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board to Pilot New Performance Framework for
Evaluating Schools
The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board (MCSAB) adopted a new school
performance framework today and will work with schools prior to full implementation to
conduct a trial run of the new accountability system. The new performance framework is
aligned with national standards of best practice and is similar to frameworks used by
other high-quality authorizers including Tennessee’s Department of Education’s Model
Performance Framework.
Charter schools are public schools that receive state, local, and federal funding just like
traditional public schools. Mississippi’s charter school law requires the MCSAB to
annually evaluate each charter school’s academic performance and organizational and
financial health. The performance framework is the primary tool used to determine
school renewal decisions.
The performance framework revision process began in 2019 with technical assistance
from local and national organizations whose expertise in the charter community brought
a sense of urgency to the project. In spring 2020, The National Association of Charter
School Authorizers (NACSA) conducted an authorizer evaluation, which concluded
MCSAB should “strengthen its performance framework to ensure that it holds schools to
clear and rigorous expectations” and “it is critical that MCSAB aligns all monitoring and
renewal policies to this revised framework to promote transparency and clarity regarding
performance expectations.” Additionally, The Joint Committee on Performance
Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) noted by reference and recommendation the
need for MCSAB to continue to develop a robust framework that includes multiple
metrics and to codify an intervention protocol appropriate for all performance domains.
The new performance framework was developed during the first half of 2021 and
involved interviews and meetings with charter school leaders and stakeholders. Many of
the revisions to the framework were based on feedback received throughout the process.
The draft framework was adopted in July 2021, followed by a legal review and comment
period, and officially released for public comment through the Administrative Procedures
Act (APA) in September 2021. MCSAB held a public hearing on the framework on October
27, 2021.
In collaboration with school leaders, the MCSAB will conduct a trial run of the
performance framework beginning in January of 2022. Any modifications that may be
needed will be addressed before the framework is fully implemented in fall 2022. MCSAB
staff will meet with each charter school to review their trial framework results from
January through April of 2022. In April and May, MCSAB staff and board members will
collaborate with stakeholders and charter school leaders to review results and make any
necessary revisions.
According to Dr. Lisa Karmacharya, Executive Director, of the Mississippi Charter School
Authorizer Board, “Charter authorizers must have full confidence in their performance
framework to ensure only those schools demonstrating the capacity to deliver high
quality education to children while protecting the public’s interest are allowed to continue
operating. By working alongside school leaders throughout the trial run to ensure the
framework measures outcomes appropriately, the MCSAB will be positioned to
implement a fair and transparent performance framework.”
MageeNews.com is an online news website covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
