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How Teacher Grade Cut Scores Are Derived

How Teacher Grades (A-F) Are Assigned shows the cut scores a teacher is graded against and applies them. This page explains where those numbers come from, so you can trace a cut score from the state's published set to the exact number your teacher is held to.

Set by the state, scaled by us. The cut scores are published by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). TKG Analytics does not set them - it scales MDE's published numbers to each teacher's own point total. The numbers below are the current (2025-26 and forward) MDE cut scores.

Two things decide a teacher's cut scores

  1. Which scale the teacher is on. A teacher is graded on the 700-point elementary/middle scale, or the 1000-point high school scale if they teach high school students.
  2. The teacher's point total. A teacher's assignment adds up to a total number of points (for example, a 4th-grade math teacher is a 300-point teacher). The published cut scores are scaled to that total.

Step 1: Start from MDE's published school cut scores

Teacher grades use MDE's school cut scores - the lowest scale score that still earns each letter, for a full-scale teacher:

Scale A B C D F
700-point (elementary/middle) 457 402 352 277 below 277
1000-point school (high school) 769 689 627 567 below 567

Teacher grades use the school set, not the district set. On the 1000-point scale MDE's district cut scores (694 / 642 / 572 / 519) are different from the school cut scores above. Teacher and school grades use the school set; using the district numbers would produce the wrong teacher grade.

Step 2: Scale to the teacher's point total

Most teachers are not full 700- or 1000-point teachers, so each published cut is scaled down to the teacher's own total:

scaled cut = (published cut / scale total) x teacher's points, rounded up

(the teacher's points are rounded down to the nearest 10; a full-scale teacher uses the published numbers as-is)

Worked example - a 300-point teacher on the 700-point scale:

A B C D
MDE published (700) 457 402 352 277
x 300 / 700, rounded up 196 173 151 119

So this teacher earns an A at a scale score of 196, a B at 173, and so on. Those are exactly the numbers shown for a 300/700 teacher in How Teacher Grades Are Assigned.

Comparing scales: the same teacher needs more on the high school scale

Because the 1000-point school cut scores are higher, a same-size teacher has to reach a higher score to earn the same letter on the high school scale:

Teacher Scale A B C D F
100-point 700 66 58 51 40 below 40
100-point 1000 school 77 69 63 57 below 57
300-point 700 196 173 151 119 below 119
300-point 1000 school 231 207 189 171 below 171

A 300-point teacher earns an A at 196 on the 700 scale, but must reach 231 on the 1000 school scale.

The full set of derived cut scores

Every point total the platform grades, derived the same way from the published numbers above:

700-point scale

Teacher points A B C D F
100 66 58 51 40 below 40
200 131 115 101 80 below 80
300 196 173 151 119 below 119
400 262 230 202 159 below 159
600 392 345 302 238 below 238
700 457 402 352 277 below 277

1000-point school scale

Teacher points A B C D F
100 77 69 63 57 below 57
300 231 207 189 171 below 171
400 308 276 251 227 below 227

Key Terms

  • MDE published cut scores: the state's full-scale cut scores (700 or 1000), the starting point for every teacher.
  • School cut scores: the set teacher and school grades use - distinct from the district cut scores on the 1000-point scale.
  • Point total: the teacher's total possible points; the published cut scores are scaled to it.

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