Mississippi school districts have reached a grading milestone — the largest percentage ever of school districts — 93.9% — were rated A, B or C; and 70% of those were rated A or B. For individual schools, 85.7% were rated A, B or C.

“Mississippi students and educators have excelled again by surpassing the overall academic achievements from the previous school year,” said State Superintendent of Education Lance Evans. “Student achievement on state assessments reached an all-time high in mathematics, English Language Arts and science. Reading proficiency rates among third-graders continue to increase and are higher than ever.”

The results were published this week in the Mississippi Department of Education’s 2023-2024 Superintendent’s Annual Report.

“These results are outstanding, especially considering it was just in 2016 the State Board of Education set a goal for all schools and districts to be rated C or higher. At that time, the percentage of schools and districts meeting that goal was 62% for both,” Evans said. “All education stakeholders — legislators, teachers, administrators, parents, community leaders, and students — should be proud of how far we have come.”

The state has arrived at what Evans called “a pivotal moment … which calls for increasing the standards for student, school and school district performance. The work has already begun with the best outcomes for students top of mind.”

The state has 138 school districts, with 634 elementary/middle schools and 150 traditional high schools (grades 9-12), 10 charter schools, and three special state schools. Average student daily attendance was 388,553 of an enrollment of 426,523 (91.09%). Average expenditure per pupil was $14,676.97. A total of 32,067 classroom teachers were employed, with an average salary of $53,704.

MDE’s Strategic Plan goals and 2023-2024 results:

1. Goal: All students proficient and showing growth in all assessed areas. Results: Student achievement reached an all-time high in mathematics (56.3%), English Language Arts (47.8%) and science (63.4%). U.S. History dropped slightly from 71.4% to 70.9%.
2. Goal: Every student graduates from high school and is ready for college and career. Results: Students achieved a record-breaking graduation rate of 89.4% and low dropout rate of 8.5%. Among students with disabilities, the graduation rate increased more than three times from 2013 to 70% and the dropout rate fell to 17.7%.
3. Goal: Every child has access to a high-quality Early Childhood Program. Results: An increase in state funding contributed to a rise in 4-year-olds enrolling in pre-K, up to 52% from 38% in 2015. There are now 24 state-invested pre-K programs, and 40 Early Learning Collaboratives.
4. Goal: Every schools has effective teachers and leaders. Results: MDE’s Coaching Model has expanded from 29 literary coaches in 2013 to 119 coaches in literacy, early childhood education, special education, school improvement, mathematics, and digital learning. More than 33,000 educators participated in a total of more than 540 in-person trainings, as well as 32 Canvas courses and more than 21,500 trainings on-demand.
5. Goal: Every community effectively uses a world-class data system to improve. Results: A revamped Mississippi Student Information System launched in July 2024 to modernize the 24-year-old system. In total, 1,572 individuals and 149 districts earned certification badges for the new MSIS; 319 district personnel obtained Edu Google Workspace Administrator certifications, and 126 Google Infrastructure Audits were completed in 89 districts.
6. Goal: Every school and district is rated C or higher. Results: State law requires standards to be raised when 65% of schools or districts are rated B or higher. Mississippi’s latest results were 85.7% of schools and 93.9% of districts rated C or higher.