Click on any list ranking states by education quality, and Mississippi will most likely appear dead last or close to last.
Mississippi, a state facing financial and other barriers, has historically been branded as a low-education region.
However, some experts believe the typical ranking methods are not a good indicator of education in Mississippi.
State leaders including Gov. Tate Reeves often tout the “Mississippi Miracle,” a name given to the rise in literacy scores in Mississippi in recent decades.
The idea of the Mississippi Miracle seems undermined by data presented in many rankings and studies.
A recent study conducted by Smart Teacher, ranked Mississippi 35th out of states with the best education systems. The study gave each state a score from one to 100 based on several different factors, all of which used data from nationalreportcard.gov.
Mississippi earned 36.27 out of 100. The same study concluded that the average Mississippian visits a library only twice a year and determined the average yearly high school dropout rate is 6.8%.
More: Madison town square in development after years of delay. See details here
Jeff Gagne, director of policy analysis for the Southern Regional Education Board, believes other states should actually look to Mississippi as an example.
“They are leaders in the nation on early grades literacy,” Gagne said.
Gagne said researchers and analysts in the SREB often don’t look at state test scores since the scores are not easily comparable across state lines.
Instead, Gagne pointed to National Association of Educational Procurement scores, since those tests are federally regulated.
The NAEP places test takers into three categories: below basic, basic and proficient and advanced.
In 2017, the SREB went back to look at NAEP data starting in 2007.
Gagne, who has done extensive research on Mississippi education, said what the data shows is a steady increase.
“(Mississippi was) pushing all performance categories up,” Gagne said. “You see the percentage of students in ‘below basic’ decreasing while you see the percentage in ‘proficient’ increasing.”
In addition, Gagne said the word “miracle” is not entirely accurate. Instead, the uptick in test numbers and proficiency rates is the result of a carefully planned and effort-driven method put in place nearly three decades ago.
“You’ve got to have data to inform policy and practice and you’ve got to pay attention to that data,” Gagne said. “If it goes on the report and sits on a shelf, it’s not doing anybody any good. And, Mississippi did a great job of using their data to continue to inform how they needed to change things.”
Gagne credits the steady rise to the Barksdale Reading Institute which partnered with the state in 1998 and to the work of former Mississippi Superintendent of Education Carey Wright.
“Mississippi is the first state in the nation back in ’98 to require their colleges of (education) to include a second early grades prep reading course for prospective teachers,” Gagne said.
In addition, Gagne pointed to Wright’s accomplishments including how she “set about hiring contractors to provide professional learning to every veteran teacher out in a classroom in the state of Mississippi.”
SREB President Stephen L. Pruitt shared similar sentiments, saying analyzing state and local data in important to understand progress, not just rankings.
“Mississippi has made great gains and drawn national recognition in the area of reading and genuinely serves as a model for other states. This is about continual growth and progress, and all states, including Mississippi, have more work to do,” Pruitt said. “This is not like ranking sports teams. Education rankings make choices about what they measure, and it’s important to know what you’re counting.”
More: Tougaloo College receives grant, expands campus sexual health education. Read details here
If Mississippi is indeed improving steadily, will the state place better in national studies in the years to come?
It’s not that clear cut.
Gagne said if the current progress continues, Mississippi might shed the stereotype. However, it all depends on the decisions made in the years to come, especially when it comes to early education.
“We keep telling states, ‘Don’t reinvent the wheel,’” Gagne said. “We know what works. We know what the research says. When I hear a policy maker say, ‘If we only knew what works.’ No. We know what works for a lot of things. The problem is we don’t have the political will or the wisdom to do what the research tells us.”
Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com
Published 10:00 am Monday, May 20, 2024
The University of Mississippi has purchased the former home of Dickie and Dianne Scruggs.
Located on Faulkner Woods Place, the 10,176-square-foot home sits on about 9 acres of property on the campus’s border.
The university purchased the home and the surrounding acreage for $10 million. A recent appraisal showed the property being worth more than $17 million.
The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning approved the purchase and naming of the home, “The Scruggs Home at Ole Miss” during its April meeting.
“This property offers a rare opportunity to acquire nearly 10 acres bordering our campus and the grounds of Rowan Oak,” said Jacob Batte, director of News & Media Relations for the university. “The opportunity became even more attractive when the Scruggs agreed to sell the home to the university for 60 percent of the appraised value, which yielded an in-kind donation of almost $8 million to the university.”
Batte said how the house and property will be used by the university still “remains to be determined.”
According to the information submitted by Ole Miss to the IHL, the university is interested in acquiring properties that support strategic growth – considering factors such as contiguous locations, strategic/mission aligned value, expansion capability, affordability and fit for future use.”
“This property is valuable to the university in that real estate near the campus is in high demand, low in supply, and is generally priced in accordance with such appealing attributes,” the written request to the IHL stated.
Rendering of the proposed new parking garage on campus. Image provided
During the meeting, the IHL also approved the exterior design for a new 1,331-space parking garage on campus.
The garage will be located immediately west of the existing North Parking Garage to service an additional 985 beds being built in three new residential units where the former Kincannon dormitory was located before it was demolished last year.
The new garage has a $50 million budget.
Both requests were part of the consent agenda during the meeting so there was no discussion on either and the entire consent agenda was approved unanimously.
In the end, the bats never woke up.
A year after Mississippi State finished last in the Southeastern Conference in both batting average and on-base percentage, the Bulldogs boasted one of the SEC’s top offenses for much of 2024. But starting with a mid-April loss to South Alabama, MSU entered Saturday averaging a mere 1.5 runs per game over its last 10 contests.
The Bulldogs scored just one run, total, in a 2-1 loss to No. 8 Stanford and a 7-0 defeat to Cal State Fullerton on Saturday as their season came to a premature conclusion in the NCAA regionals.
“It’s always tough when you see a season come to an end,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “That’s not how we hoped this weekend would go, but overall, there’s a lot to be proud of with this group, particularly the senior class and what it took for us to get back to this point. The work really started a year ago when we didn’t hear our name last year. We knew that wasn’t up to our standard and what we’ve been working so hard to build.”
MSU (34-20) held the Cardinal to just two runs on six hits in the winners’ bracket game, but against the nation’s ERA leader in NiJaree Canady, those two runs were enough for Stanford. Center fielder Sierra Sacco touched up Canady for a solo home run on the first pitch of the fourth inning, just her second long ball of the year. Other than that, though, MSU managed just two singles in the game.
The Cardinal (46-14) opened the scoring in the second when Bulldogs third baseman Nadia Barbary made an errant throw to first base after fielding a bunt, putting the leadoff batter at second. Jade Berry followed with an RBI double to give her team the lead, and Ava Gall’s solo homer an inning later put Stanford ahead by two. Canady struck out 13 MSU hitters and issued just one walk to make sure the lead stood up.
“She’s a great pitcher. We knew there were going to be strikeouts,” Ricketts said. “We knew she was going to be tough. We can do a little bit better job of swinging within our game plan and our approach because you’re not going to get a whole lot of mistakes with a pitcher like that (in the circle).”
Cal State Fullerton, after losing to the Bulldogs on Friday, defeated Saint Mary’s in Saturday’s first elimination game, so MSU and the Titans met again Saturday night with a trip to the regional final on the line. Sophomore Josey Marron, making her first career postseason appearance, held Fullerton scoreless through four innings, but the Bulldogs likewise could not crack the scoreboard against Titans ace Haley Rainey.
Like Marron, Rainey relies on her drop ball to generate ground ball outs, giving MSU a different look after facing the flamethrowing, rise ball specialist Canady earlier in the day. Rainey issued five walks but surrendered just three hits in six shutout innings before Leanna Garcia closed out the Bulldogs’ season in the seventh. MSU was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Fullerton (39-19) put up a seven-spot in the bottom of the fifth to turn a scoreless game into a blowout. Hannah Becerra’s infield single drove in the game’s first run, Peyton Toto singled in two more and then Colby McClinton broke the game wide open with a grand slam off Aspen Wesley, who had relieved Marron following Toto’s hit.
An eight-member senior class — Wesley, Paige Cook, Brylie St. Clair, Madisyn Kennedy, Matalasi Faapito, Kat Wallace, Lexi Sosa and Aquana Brownlee — has played its final game with the Bulldogs. But MSU had three underclassmen starting in the infield this season, a freshman behind the plate and youngsters Marron and Delainey Everett as part of the pitching staff, so the foundation to build on this year’s success is there.
“We’re really excited about the future of this program, and we’ve brought in such great athletes the last couple of years,” Ricketts said. “You see the young talent, the freshmen up the middle that we’ve had and behind the plate mixed with those fifth-year seniors. It was just really special. They had a great chance to learn from those upperclassmen with a lot of experience, and they’ll be able to pass it on next year to another big recruiting class we have coming in.”
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 45 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
It’s been the story of Mississippi State’s season, as the Bulldogs yet again missed a chance to lock up a host spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Diamond Dawgs now head to Hoover needing to make one final statement to assure that Starkville will be home to postseason baseball once again. Brian Hadad and Robbie Faulk discuss why it’s not a done deal for State, and what needs to happen this week to lock up a regional.
Skeletal remains found almost 40 years ago identified as woman who disappeared in 1968
India Lok Sabha election 2024 Phase 4: Who votes and what’s at stake?
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”: Disney's New Kingdom is Far From Magical (Movie Review)
Ukraine’s military chief admits ‘difficult situation’ in Kharkiv region
Tales from the trail: The blue states Trump eyes to turn red in November
Borrell: Spain, Ireland and others could recognise Palestine on 21 May
Catalans vote in crucial regional election for the separatist movement
North Dakota gov, former presidential candidate Doug Burgum front and center at Trump New Jersey rally
