By Billy Davis

Improved test scores in Algebra I and English II at North Panola High School are the driving force that moved the school to a Successful status, school officials said.

The Panolian reported last week, when state test score results became public, that North Panola High and Crenshaw Elementary showed improvement. Both the high school and the elementary school made a one-step leap from “Academic Watch” to “Successful,” earning an overnight status as bright spots within the struggling school district.

The school rankings set by the Miss. Department of Education are Star School, High Performing, Successful, Academic Watch, Low Performing, At Risk of Failing, and Failing.

North Panola High, located in Sardis, has about 500 students in grades nine through twelve.

Crenshaw Elementary has about 160 students in grades one through five.

At North Panola High, the “Successful” rating marked its second surge in two years. Test scores from 2009, released last year, moved North Panola High three spots — from “Failing” to “Academic Watch.”

The bottom-rated Failing label at North Panola High had helped trigger the state takeover of the district in 2008.

“What happened is that our students bought in. They believed, finally, that they could achieve,” said Jamone Edwards, the 29-year-old, first-year principal at North Panola High.

Edwards was serving as lead teacher at the high school last year when enough students there scored “Proficient” or “Advanced” on the end-of-the-year state tests to push the district into Successful.

To earn a diploma, Mississippi high school students must pass state tests in U.S. History, Algebra I, English II and Biology I. The students’ individual scores rank from a rock-bottom “Minimum” to “Proficient and Above,” and the scoring method assigns many more points for students who score at the top — and no points for “Minimum.”

At North Panola High, 39 percent of 10th graders taking the English II state test last spring scored Proficient and Advanced — a five-point jump from 2009.

The biggest jump came in Algebra I — from 49 percent in 2009, to 62 percent in 2010, scoring Proficient and Advanced.

In the U.S. History test, 33 percent of North Panola high schoolers scored Proficient or Above, an increase from 27 percent in 2009.

Forty-one percent at North Panola High scored Proficient or Above in Biology 1, which was down from 64 percent in 2009 — the only retreat in the four subject areas.

Students’ test scores are added into a point system known as QDI, which added up to a score of 134 at NPHS.

A QDI of 133 is considered Successful, said Jennifer Mock, North Panola’s testing coordinator.

 “What tells me we’re moving forward is the test data,” Edwards explained. “The data shows that some of our students barely missed scoring Proficient. The potential is there for excellence, not just for the status quo.”

Edwards was announced as North Panola principal in May, when district conservator Robert King said at a school board meeting he had hired the then-lead teacher after interviewing several candidates.

King recalled the other interviewees said they wanted to advance to the central office and only one — Edwards — said he planned to hang a “Star School” banner at North Panola High.

Edwards said at the time he planned to push students who showed potential into more challenging courses, such as Advanced Placement classes that prepare students for college courses.

This week, reminded by a reporter of that stated plan, Edwards said state test results show he was right to challenge students to work hard in the classroom.

“Despite what some people believe, our parents have high expectations for their children. They want them to achieve,” Edwards said. “Our ultimate goal is to be a Star School. Right now, our goal is the next step, High Performing.”