{"id":727,"date":"2021-01-12T19:38:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-12T19:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wptest.mdek12.org\/testsite2\/2021\/01\/12\/superintendents-annual-report-for-2019-20-shows-how-students-educators-and-schools-persisted-through-pandemic-challenges_20210112\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T08:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T14:38:34","slug":"superintendents-annual-report-for-2019-20-shows-how-students-educators-and-schools-persisted-through-pandemic-challenges_20210112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/2021\/01\/12\/superintendents-annual-report-for-2019-20-shows-how-students-educators-and-schools-persisted-through-pandemic-challenges_20210112\/","title":{"rendered":"Superintendent\u2019s Annual Report for 2019-20 Shows How Students, Educators and Schools Persisted through Pandemic Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NEWS RELEASE\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For Immediate Release:&nbsp;January 12, 2021<\/p>\n<p>JACKSON, Miss. \u2013&nbsp;The newly released Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) 2019-20 Superintendent\u2019s Annual Report tells the story&nbsp;how students, educators and schools persisted in their pursuit of higher academic achievement while dealing with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. View the report online at <a href=\"\/MBE\/superintendent2020\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u>mdek12.org\/MBE\/superintendent2020<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 13px;margin-bottom: 13px\">Report highlights:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Facts and figures about student enrollment and the educator workforce&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>2019-20 achievements&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Immediate response to school building closures&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Long-term response to pandemic, including Mississippi Connects digital learning initiative<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No new achievement data were produced for the 2019-20 school year because state and national assessments were not administered. However, Mississippi\u2019s record of significant, sustained improvement through the end of the previous year has been historic:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>4th graders had achieved the No. 1 spot in the nation for gains on NAEP in reading and math, with 4th graders scoring higher than the nation\u2019s public-school average in math and tying the nation in reading.<\/li>\n<li>8th graders had outpaced the nation for growth in math and held steady in reading; nationally, scores for most NAEP subjects dropped or remained flat.<\/li>\n<li>Black, white and Hispanic students from low-income homes in Mississippi had achieved higher scores than their counterparts nationally in all four NAEP subjects.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>85.6% of students met the most challenging standard ever required under the Literacy-Based Promotion Act.<\/li>\n<li>Students in every grade had made significant, annual gains on statewide English Language Arts and mathematics assessments. When the tests were first administered in 2016, one-third of students scored on or above grade level in English Language Arts and Math. In 2019, closer to half reached those levels.<\/li>\n<li>The graduation rate hit an all-time high of 85%, on par with the national average.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cI am incredibly proud of our students, teachers and leaders and the resilience they showed during incredibly challenging circumstances,\u201d said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education. \u201cI am optimistic about the future of education in Mississippi because we have already proven what can happen when there is a singular focus on supporting students and improving academic achievement. When we put students first, Mississippi succeeds.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Mississippi State Board of Education\u2019s and MDE\u2019s priorities for 2021 and beyond include maintaining a focus on literacy and high academic standards to prepare all students for college and careers, strengthening the state\u2019s early childhood education infrastructure, continuing to help make teachers and school leaders more effective, making data-driven decisions to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps, and improving low-performing schools.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEWS RELEASE\u202f For Immediate Release:&nbsp;January 12, 2021 JACKSON, Miss. \u2013&nbsp;The newly released Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) 2019-20 Superintendent\u2019s Annual Report tells the story&nbsp;how students, educators and schools persisted in their pursuit of higher academic achievement while dealing with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. View the report online at mdek12.org\/MBE\/superintendent2020. Report highlights:&nbsp; Facts and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3280,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/3280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}