Mississippi Student Success

Did you know? Mississippi has great news to share about the direction of public education. We are focusing our efforts to lift student achievement in the state and we are celebrating the gains we have made in the last few years.

1. Mississippi’s fourth grade reading and math scores improved on the latest Nation’s Report Card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Mississippi was the only state to show significant improvement since 2013 in both reading and math scores among fourth graders. Mississippi’s science scores for fourth grade and eighth grade also improved on this national assessment.

2. Mississippi’s 11^th grade students earned an overall composite score of 18.3 on the ACT in 2016, an increase from 17.6 in 2015. Students made gains in each of the four categories of English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.

3. Mississippi saw growth in all three major categories of Advanced Placement (AP) participation and performance, with a 23.1 percent increase in participation, a 22.8 percent increase in the number of exams taken and an 11.1 percent increase in students achieving qualifying AP scores.

4. Mississippi’s graduation rate reached an all-time high of 80.8 percent, up from 78.4 percent the previous year. At this rate of growth, we could surpass the national rate of 82 percent by next year.

5. The state’s dropout rate fell to 11.8 percent from 12.8 percent the previous year, continuing the downward trend from 16.7 percent in 2011-12.

6. The 2015-16 Mississippi Assessment Program (MAP) results showed the following overall in mathematics:

• 31.1 percent of all tested students scored Level 4 or higher (proficient and advanced)
• 15 districts had greater than 45 percent of all students scoring Level 4 or higher
• Overall 66.2 percent of students scored at Level 3 or higher (passing, proficient and advanced)

7. The 2015-16 MAP results in English language arts overall showed:

• 32.6 percent of all tested students scored Level 4 or higher (proficient and advanced)
• 14 districts had greater than 45 percent of all students scoring Level 4 or higher
• Overall 66 percent of students scored at Level 3 or higher (passing, proficient and advanced)

8. In 3rd grade, 87 percent of students passed the 3rd grade reading assessment on their first try, which is an increase from 85 percent last year. Students must pass this test to qualify for promotion to the 4th grade.

9. For the second year in a row, our Kindergarten Readiness Assessment results showed that the majority of kindergarteners made significant gains during the academic year, with the average statewide score exceeding the previous school year’s score.

10. Statewide, 63 percent of kindergarteners met or exceeded the end-of-the-year target score that categorizes them as transitional readers. Students scoring at this level are beginning to read unfamiliar words and easy reader material, but are not yet independent readers. Last year, 54 percent of kindergarteners achieved the transitional reader score.

11. The assessment of kindergarten readiness among students in the state’s Early Learning Collaboratives show that all 11 collaboratives achieved the target score that indicates students are prepared for kindergarten. At the student-level, 71 percent of pre-K students met the target readiness score, which is an increase from 59 percent in 2015.

12. The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) recognized Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaboratives (ELC) in its 2015 State of Preschool yearbook for meeting all 10 quality standards for early childhood education, which puts Mississippi among only five states in the nation that meet all 10 benchmarks.