House Bill 1107: Removal of US History EOC Requirement

February 22, 2024March 7, 2024 Bill Tracker

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The House Education Committee failed to vote on HB 1107 by the March 5 deadline, causing the bill to die in committee.

Explanation of the Bill

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House Bill 1107 would direct the State Board of Education (SBE) to no longer require high schools to administer an end-of-course (EOC) exam in US History.

Currently, high schools are required by the SBE to administer EOC exams in US History, English II, Algebra I, and Biology I. Students must complete these exams in order to receive the Carnegie units that are required for a standard high school diploma.¹ Their scores are used as a factor in school and district accountability ratings. The US History EOC exam is currently the only state accountability measure that tests students’ knowledge of social studies. 

HB 1107 would only impact the administration of the US History EOC exam, which is the only exam of the four whose administration is not required by federal law. If the bill were to pass, schools would still be required to administer EOC exams in English II, Algebra I, and Biology I.  

In addition to its substantive changes, HB 1107 makes a minor change to the organization of the law. Currently, §37-16-7 enumerates the “standards of graduation” that a student must meet. It lists as a graduation standard that any school with a graduation rate of under 80% must submit a plan to improve its graduation rate. HB 1107 would restructure the organization of the code section so that this requirement is separate from graduation standards. It also adds the specification that it is the responsibility of the local school board to maintain information on individual schools’ graduation rates. 

HB 1107 is reflective of recent attempts to remove the US History EOC exam. In 2019, the Mississippi Student Testing Task Force, which was convened by the Mississippi Department of Education, voted to recommend eliminating the US History EOC exam. This recommendation was based on a survey that MDE administered to secondary teachers, in which they overwhelmingly indicated support for eliminating the US History EOC exam requirement. Ultimately, however, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to keep the EOC exam in place, citing concerns that removing the exam could “lessen the importance of US History in schools.”

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¹ Though students must complete these exams and the associated courses, they do not necessarily need to pass these exams in order to graduate. There are multiple avenues through which they may graduate if they do not receive a passing score on one or more of these exams.