Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/lfields/)
Families in Mississippi spend an average of nearly $2,000 for just five weeks of enrollment in a summer learning program. That cost amounts to 16 percent of the median summer income for a two-parent household and more than double what is considered affordable by the federal government, according to a new report by the Center for American Progress. Read The Hechinger Report’s full analysis here.
Although the state still has work to do, Mississippi’s educational system has made progress and is now close to or better than the national average in some aspects, according to a newly released federal report, called The Condition of Education. Read the full Hechinger Report here.
Mississippi is in line with the majority of states in requiring at least 180 days of instruction each school year. But Mississippi, along with 16 states and the District of Columbia, departs from that majority-rule norm in one respect: It does not differentiate instructional time requirements based on grade levels, according to a new report by the Education Commission of the States. Read The Hechinger Report’s analysis here.
Discipline for students with disabilities is leading to too much time out of school, report says. Read The Hechinger Report here.
Head Start centers make up one-third of the center-based child care programs available in some of Mississippi’s most rural areas, providing critical child care services, access to health care and early intervention services that children may not otherwise get, according to a new report featured in The Hechinger Report’s Mississippi Learning newsletter. Download the report from The Center for American Progress here. Read The Hechinger Report’s story here.
Mississippi’s participation rate in a federally funded after-school supper program is one of the lowest in the nation, according to a new report. Read the full story by The Hechinger Report here.
The majority of voters in 12 Southern states said they see differences in the quality of education across the South and said states need to adjust funding to improve outcomes in these states, according to the results of a newly-released poll. Read the full Hechinger Report, featuring results of the poll, here. Read Mississippi Today’s coverage on where Mississippi lawmakers stand on funding education.
‘The Delta Man’ is Governor’s Choice for arts award
Oxford group builds its reputation with programs such as Miss-I-Sippin’, Art-er Limits Fringe Festival and Art Vending Machine
After initial shock and protests, many in Water Valley welcome bookstore that supports LGBTQ community
Mississippi does not do enough to protect students from sometimes predatory for-profit institutions, according to a new national report by the Children’s Advocacy Institute. Read the full article by The Hechinger Report here.
Mississippi’s legislators have proposed dozens of bills this year aimed at improving education in the state. The Hechinger Report looks at some of the education bills from the current session. Read the report here.
In 2010, a year after Andrea Pastchal-Smith became principal of West Elementary School, formerly named West Oktibbeha County Elementary, the struggling school earned an “Academic Watch” rating from the state. At the time, that was equivalent to a D on the state’s A-F rating scale (which has been modified in recent years). Things are different now: Earlier this year the school received an A rating on the state’s new accountability scale, according to The Hechinger Report. Read the report here.
Charter schools are a controversial issue across the country, but perhaps even more so in rural areas where cash-strapped districts with dwindling student enrollment must grapple with the possibility of losing both students and funding to a new school, according to a new article by The Hechinger Report. Read the report here. Read about Mississippi Today’s charter school events:
Discussion in Clarksdale: Are charter schools viable in rural Mississippi?
More Mississippi Today coverage:
Names of counties, towns and rivers are everyday reminders of the influence of tribal groups