School Accountability At The Intersection Of Race, Povertyand Teacher Quality

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between teacher certification, race, and socio-economic status and their impact on school district accountability ratings in Mississippi. Our goal is to understand better the confluence of factors impacting school accountability ratings to inform proactive change. We sampled 143 public school districts and utilized correlation and regression techniques to determine the relationship and the predictive value among variables. Our findings indicate that the percentage of African American students, poverty, and teacher certification type are all correlated to district accountability ratings. Furthermore, both the percentage of African American students and the percentage of students living in poverty in Mississippi school districts are strong predictors of school accountability ratings.