NEWS RELEASE  For Immediate Release: July 24, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. — All Mississippi school districts will finalize plans for the start of the new school year by July 31. State law requires Mississippi schools to operate 180 days each school year, with the school year ending by June 30. By law, school districts are in...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: July 23, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. –  The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and the Office of Teaching and Leading today announced that Debra Houghton, principal of Mannsdale Upper Elementary in the Madison County School District, has been selected as the 2020 Mississippi Administrator of the Year (MAOY), and Benjamin Austin,...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: July 6, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and the Office of Teaching and Leading set the first virtual ceremony for Mississippi Teacher of the Year and Mississippi Administrator of the Year to recognize top educators. The program, originally scheduled for the spring, was postponed as...Read More

NEWS RELEASE  For Immediate Release: June 30, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) is the winner of the Southern Regional Education Board’s (SREB) 2020 State Leadership Award for its efforts to increase literacy and math achievement and build networked communities focused on school improvement in the middle grades. The state will...Read More

NEWS RELEASE  For Immediate Release: June 30, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) will hold three Virtual Alternate Route Fairs in July to help aspiring teachers identify the alternate route teacher preparation program that is right for them. Completing an alternate route program is a required step for people who would...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: June 22, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi experienced the greatest improvement in education, ranking 39th in the country, a substantial upturn from the previous ranking of 44 in 2019, according to new data released in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT® 2020 Data Book. Gains in high school...Read More

NEWS RELEASE  For Immediate Release: June 18, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) held up its sustained record of improved student achievement over the past six years – particularly the state’s record-low dropout rate – in response to the Office of the State Auditor’s (OSA) performance audit for the MDE Office...Read More

NEWS RELEASE  For Immediate Release: June 11, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) suspended several policies today to give local school districts scheduling flexibility for the 2020-21 school year to deal with the impact of COVID-19. State law requires schools to provide 180 days of instruction each school year. Local...Read More

MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release: June 10, 2020 WHO:            Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) WHAT:          The SBE will hold its annual budget work session for FY 2022 and its regularly scheduled monthly meeting via livestream WHEN:         Thursday, June 11, 2020                       8:30 a.m. – Budget work session                      10 a.m. – Monthly...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: June 10, 2020 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) announced today the 2020 Mississippi Parent of the Year is Lisa McCusker, a mother of two children in the Pascagoula-Gautier School District. The school district nominated McCusker for her countless hours of working with school personnel on a...Read More