Post Tagged with: "Mississippi Department of Education"

Exterior of Mississippi Department of Education headquarters. File photo.
Mississippi

Mississippi Ed Officials: Common Core Viewed Positively

by Paul Boger × on August 5, 2015 at 3:56 pm × 0 comments

Mississippians are using a 90-day public comment period to give feedback on the state’s Common Core Education Standards. Education officials say a majority of the comments are positive.

Mississippi Sex Education: An Investigative Series
Audio / Interactive / Maps / Mississippi / Multimedia / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: An Investigative Series

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 20, 2012 at 7:38 am × 0 comments

In a six month long investigation, the Southern Education Desk conducted dozens of interviews and relied on open records requests to obtain hundreds of documents. SED found an inaccurate curricula approval process and hundreds of thousands of dollars in exclusive grants may have resulted in a payday for a for-profit abstinence education company. Results for students are yet to be seen.

The sex education committee made mistakes while reviewing programs. If scoring had been accurate, four programs that were approved for Mississippi schools would not have made the cut. Photo by Stephanie Terrell.
Audio / Interactive / Mississippi / Multimedia / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: Half Of Districts’ Programs Don’t Meet State Requirements

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 19, 2012 at 7:39 am × 1 comment

An investigation by the Southern Education Desk has found that the committee appointed by the Mississippi Department of Education to evaluate sex education programs for the state’s schools made mistakes in the approval process.

This is the first year all school districts in Mississippi are required to teach sex education. The question is: will it work? Photo by Black Glenn via Flickr.
Audio / Interactive / Maps / Mississippi / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: Is What’s Being Taught Effective?

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 18, 2012 at 10:07 am × 1 comment

This is the first year that Mississippi has mandated sex education in all of its schools, trying to bring down its worst-in-the-nation teen pregnancy rate. But 75 percent of districts are teaching programs without a proven track record and critics argue that is handicapping the state’s sex education efforts. (Part one of a three-part investigative series)

US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, says waivers from some of the provisions of No Child Left Behind will allow states such as Mississippi the flexibility to improve education. Photo by the Associated Press.
Audio / Mississippi / No Child Left Behind

Mississippi Receives NCLB Waiver, Promises Reform

by Annie Gilbertson × on July 19, 2012 at 6:56 pm × 0 comments

The US Department of Education has granted Mississippi a waiver from some of the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Law. Mississippi is now one of 32 states no longer required to have all students proficient in Reading and Math by 2014. But new flexibility was exchanged for new policy.

The feds say Mississippi needs to do more for English Language Learners. Photo by LM Otero, Associated Press.
Audio / ESL / Mississippi / No Child Left Behind

The Future For A Failing State: English Language Learners

by Annie Gilbertson × on July 4, 2012 at 5:11 pm × 0 comments

As part of the state’s application for a waiver from some aspects of the federal No Child Left Behind law, Mississippi schools are changing the way they look at minorities and “special populations” such as students with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELL) whose numbers are sharply rising across the state.

Vicksburg science teacher Teandrea Rowell and Jackson social studies teacher Nathaniel Brown say there is a greater need for conversation around teacher evaluations. Photo by Annie Gilbertson.
Audio / Mississippi / No Child Left Behind

The Future For A Failing State: Teacher Evaluations

by Annie Gilbertson × on July 3, 2012 at 1:51 pm × 0 comments

Teacher evaluations are controversial in many parts of the country and the South is no exception. But in Mississippi, every public-school teacher and principal will soon be plugged into an evaluation system that’s being implemented largely without public scrutiny.

For those at Wingfield High School, changing a school has to mean changing people's minds. Photo by Annie Gilbertson.
Audio / Mississippi / Turnaround School Series

How To Turn Around A Failing School…Maybe

by Annie Gilbertson × on May 21, 2012 at 11:21 am × 0 comments

The federal government says if school districts come up with a strong plan to change their worst schools, they will provide federal dollars to pay for it. But what to do? And how do you know it will be effective?

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