NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: September 27, 2019 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) has released the most recent school- and district-level chronic absence data, which shows that 13.05% of Mississippi students were absent 10% or more of the 2018-19 school year. This is the lowest rate since the MDE has been...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: September 26, 2019 JACKSON, Miss. – U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today recognized three Mississippi schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2019. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. The three schools earning the national distinction...Read More

NEWS RELEASE  For Immediate Release: September 24, 2019 (JACKSON, MS) – The Mississippi Department of Education announces a series of regional meetings across the state for families of students in kindergarten through grade 3. At the meetings, families will receive an overview of the state law concerning literacy and assessment, as well as strategies that...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: September 23, 2019 Media Contacts Angela Rutherford 662-915-7625 araines@olemiss.edu Bruce Coffey 804.310.1214 bruce.coffey@readtothem.org JACKSON, Miss. – Starting in October schools across Mississippi will kick off the inaugural year of Mississippi Reads One Book, a statewide family literacy program in which elementary students, families, and schools all read one common novel...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: September 19, 2019 JACKSON, Miss – School districts will receive state funds, on a reimbursement basis, this school year to help pay for a national career readiness certification exam and advanced courses that lead to college credits. The Mississippi Legislature appropriated $1 million for the program, which will allocate funds...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: September 19, 2019 JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted today to begin the public comment process on whether the state should eliminate the U.S. History end-of-course exam. The SBE’s final decision on the end-of-course exam will occur at the conclusion of the public comment period...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: September 17, 2019 JACKSON, Miss. – Nearly three quarters of schools and 70% of districts will be rated C or higher when the Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) approves accountability grades Thursday for the 2018-19 school year. The grades show a three-year trend of continuous school and district improvement....Read More

MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release: September 12, 2019 WHO: Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), local and national literacy experts and keynote speakers: Maggie Wade, WLBT news anchor Karen Mapp, Ed.D., Harvard University senior lecturer and faculty director of education policy and management master’s program Luis Versalles, PreK-12 district partnership director at Pacific Educational Group, WHAT:...Read More

MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release: August 28, 2019 WHO: Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) WHAT: The SBE has rescheduled its regularly scheduled September and October meetings WHEN:  10 a.m. September 19, 2019 (September meeting)               10 a.m. October 10, 2019 (October meeting) WHERE:  Mississippi Department of Education, Central High School Building, 4th floor Board Room,...Read More

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: August 22, 2019 JACKSON, Miss. – The population of students learning the English language is growing in Mississippi, and more students are gaining proficiency in English, according to recent results of the state’s English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT). The state tested 12,106 English learner (EL) students in the spring of...Read More