Mississippi sees improvement in AP scores, but still last in the nation
More low-income and black students in Mississippi are passing college-level Advanced Placement exams in high school although pass rates for students overall remain low and stagnant, according to a report released Wednesday. The College Board’s 10th annual Report to the Nation examines trends in participation and performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams across the country. […]
A shorter school year and mandatory homework: What Mississippi’s lawmakers are proposing for education this year
JACKSON, Miss.—Lawmakers in Mississippi have proposed more than 200 education laws for the 2014 session, in what is poised to be the second consecutive legislative session with a heavy focus on schools. As expected, many of the bills touch on the most contentious national and statewide issues in education, like grade-level standards, teacher pay and […]
Could New York’s Pre-k plan pit politics and posturing above kids?
No matter who ends up paying for universal pre-k program in New York, it seems that both Cuomo and de Blasio have a lot of work ahead. There hasn’t been enough room or enough money or enough support for such programs in years.
In Mississippi, small glimmers of hope and opportunity
It’s always been hard to get ahead in the largely poor and rural state of Mississippi, where the median household income is the lowest in the U.S. Yet Magnolia State residents do have slightly more opportunities to become upwardly mobility these days than they had two years — possibly due to lower unemployment rates and […]
Survey: Mississippi kids unprepared for kindergarten
More than 40 percent of students in Mississippi are not ready for kindergarten, according to the results of a survey released Monday. Mississippi KIDS COUNT, a project of the Family and Children Research Unit at Mississippi State University’s Social Science Research Center surveyed kindergarten teachers across the state to assess their perspectives on student readiness. […]
After five tries in five years, Mississippi expands charters
Lawmakers in Mississippi passed legislation on Wednesday that will expand charter schools in the state, a victory for supporters who have made five attempts in five years to change the state’s current charter school law. The bill would allow the publicly-funded, privately-run schools to open in low-performing districts, and would give school boards in high-performing […]
Mississippi passes landmark pre-k bill, moves forward with charters
Mississippi is one step closer to passing sweeping education reforms that could, for the first time, bring state-funded pre-k to the state. On Wednesday, the House and Senate passed legislation that would provide $3 million to partially fund voluntary preschool programs for 4-year-olds beginning in the 2014-15 school year. Advocates of early education in the […]
Charter schools move forward in Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss.—Mississippi is one step closer to allowing charter schools to open in the state after the Senate Education Committee approved a charter school bill on Tuesday. Update On Wednesday, after more than three hours of debate, the Mississippi Senate passed their version of the charter school bill. Lawmakers approved an amendment that will allow […]
Annual poll of education performance ranks Mississippi 48th
Mississippi ranked 48th — ahead of only Idaho, Nevada, and South Dakota — in an annual ranking of states’ educational performance and policy. Quality Counts 2013, released by the weekly newspaper Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, grades states on a variety of indicators, including school spending, overall student performance, and […]
Why change is still a long time coming in Mississippi education
For education advocates in Mississippi, it must be difficult to sit quietly and watch the tepid progress, or, as some put it last week, “small scale ideas” that are emerging in a state with a perpetual education crisis. After all, it’s been 30 years since the so-called “Christmas Miracle” — the historic December day when […]
