Summary:
In Coahoma County School District, there is exactly one middle school serving grades 7 and 8: Coahoma County Junior High School. This small school enrolls 172 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 14.3:1, and nearly 96% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing it in a very high-poverty context. Because it is the district’s only middle school, the school’s test scores are identical to the district’s overall middle school results.
Coahoma County Junior High School is a low-performing school relative to state averages, earning a 1-star rating and ranking 216 out of 260 Mississippi middle schools (17th percentile). Its district also ranks low, at 115 out of 134 districts. Proficiency rates on the MAAP are below state in every subject: 7th grade ELA is 22.8% vs. 36.7% statewide, 8th grade ELA is 21.1% vs. 40.9%, 7th grade math is 47.2% vs. 57.7%, 8th grade math is 34.1% vs. 51.4%, and 8th grade science is 35.3% vs. 57.8%. The largest gap is in 8th grade science, which trails the state by 22.5 points.
Several patterns stand out. Math proficiency drops sharply from 7th to 8th grade, a 13.1-point decline that is far steeper than the state’s 6.3-point drop. ELA is the weakest subject, with only about 1 in 5 students proficient in both grades. However, 7th grade math is a relative bright spot at 47.2% proficiency, coming within 10.5 points of the state average. Given the school’s very high poverty rate, targeted support in literacy and transitional math skills will be essential. With only 172 students, even small changes in the number of proficient students can shift percentages noticeably, so year-to-year comparisons should be interpreted with caution.
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