Issues in the News

Mississippi Looks to Improve education by Boosting Core Subject Standards

By Daniel Cherry

Mississippi Public Broadcasting--January 14, 2011

The Mississippi Department of Education is studying how to make some big changes to core subjects like Math and English. MPB's Daniel Cherry reports how the changes could align Mississippi with other states.

The program called Common Core State Standards is a cooperation between 42 states to make standardized testing and curriculum more uniform. Dr. Lynn House is Deputy Superintendent with the Department of Education. She says she's optimistic about Mississippi raising its standards in core subjects to that of other states.

"I think you're going to see all of the states looking at what the standards say and how the assessments are going to be. And they're all going to say from New York to Mississippi and everywhere in between, these are highly rigorous standards that we're all going to work to meet."

Now all states have different tests and curriculum, but when Common Core Standards are implemented it will show direct comparisons between state performance. Susan Womack is with Parents for Public Schools. She says a more rigorous curriculum will help Mississippi students.

Dropouts up; grad rate dips

By Therese Apel

Clarion Ledger--May 6, 2011

Mississippi's public high school graduation rate dipped slightly in 2010 from the previous year, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Education.

The dropout rate for the class of 2010 is 17 percent, up from 16.8 percent the previous year, said State Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham.

Accordingly, the graduation rate fell slightly from 71.6 in 2009 to 71.4 in 2010.

The completion rate for the Class of 2010 is 78.6 percent compared to the previous year's rate of 79.3 percent.

Long Time Education Advocates Call For State Pre-K

By Jeffrey Hess

Mississippi Public Broadcasting--April 26, 2011

A new report shows that Mississippi is among a handful of states that does not offer state sponsored pre-kindergarten education. It has been almost 30 years since Mississippi became the last state to offer kindergarten education. MPB's Jeffrey Hess reports the leaders who brought Kindergarten to Mississippi see pre-K as the next step.

In late 1982, the Mississippi legislature to passed the Education Reform Act.

The law changed state education in a number of ways, most notably making Mississippi the final state to offer public kindergarten.

The governor at the time, William Winter, says it took a lot of effort to bring kindergarten to the state.

"I think the pride of Mississippi really came in a said 'we can't be last in everything'. I think that is what happened. There were still a lot of people opposed to it. They didn't want to raise any taxes for any more education services. But then they were convinced and they have been convinced ever since," Winter said.

Mississippi is one of ten state to not offer pre-kindergarten education, and Winter says pre-K is the logical extension of the 1982 reforms.

Former State Representative Robert Clark chaired the house Education committee in 1982.

Clark says expanding education helps the state.

"If we do not have pre-K, a child is already lost when he gets to school and 90% of them will never catch up. So we have got to come to grips and fund education," Clark said.

Mississippi Building Blocks is a 4-year program studying the potential impact of pre-k in Mississippi.

Building Blocks Director Laurie Smith say all the research shows the benefits of pre-K education.

"There is so much brain research that is available now that shows that the first 5 years of life are the biggest brain growth time in a human's development and yet the least amount of money goes into it," Smith said.

Smith says just one year of the building blocks program in the state is already showing measurable results, that she hopes will translate into more support for expanding public education to even younger Mississippi children.

Educators Say Mississippi is Missing Out on Pre-K Education

By Danial Cherry

The Mississippi Public Broadcasting--April 7, 2011

Mississippi is the only state in the South which does not have a state sponsored early childhood education program. MPB's Daniel Cherry reports on what Pre K education could mean for Mississippi and how head start educators are meeting to coordinate their efforts.

Doloris Suel owns PREP Company Tutorial Schools in Jackson which specializes in early childhood education. She says in her line of work she can tell children who start education early in life have an advantage.

"Children that come to us that have even been with grandma until they're five, they're so far behind. We have to find ways to go and catch them up. Then the public schools are faced with the same thing."

Studies show children who receive education and stimulation before beginning Kindergarten are much more likely to graduate from high school and attend a four year college. Joann Lang is with the National Institute for School Leadership. She's in Mississippi training teachers about successful practices used in Pennsylvania. Lang says that state saw huge rewards for implementing pre K.

"For every dollar that we spent in early childhood we got $17 in return, meaning we have better productive citizens, we have children graduating from high schools and colleges, we don't have children getting into trouble and getting into prisons so we're saving money."

Dr. Nikisha Ware is the Executive Director for the Mississippi Learning Institute. She says early childhood education is great, but unless the state makes an effort for equitable access to education--- only those families who can afford it will be able to take advantage.

"Because they don't have access to those early learning opportunities they start school behind. For the have and have not you have a group of children that will perpetually be behind."

The Mississippi Early Childhood Education Advisory Council recently received one point six million dollars in federal funds to continue developing a comprehensive Pre K education system. Daniel Cherry...MPB News.

Study Finds High Dropout Rates for Black Males in KIPP Schools

By Mary Ann Zahr

Education Week--March 31, 2011

KIPP charter middle schools enroll a significantly higher proportion of African-American students than the local school districts they draw from, but 40 percent of the black males they enroll leave between grades 6 and 8, says a new nationwide study by researchers at Western Michigan University.

"The dropout rate for African-American males is really shocking," said Gary J. Miron, a professor of evaluation, measurement, and research at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, and the lead researcher for the study. "KIPP is doing a great job of educating students who persist, but not all who come."

With 99 charter schools across the country, most of which serve grades 5 to 8, the Knowledge Is Power Program network has built a national reputation for success in enabling low-income minority students to do well academically. And some studies show that KIPP charter schools have succeeded in significantly narrowing race-based and income-based achievement gaps between students over time. While not disputing that track record, the new study attempts to probe some of the more unexplored factors that might play into KIPP's success.

It concludes, for instance, that KIPP schools are considerably better funded on a per-pupil basis than their surrounding school districts. The KIPP schools received, on average, $18,500 per pupil in 2007-08, about $6,500 more per student than the average for other schools in the same districts, according to the researchers' analysis of federal 990 tax forms filed by schools reporting both public and private sources of funding. The study reports that nearly $5,800 of that per-pupil amount is private donations and grants.