The purpose of this slide deck is to shine a spotlight on education in the American South with a focus on equity and to provide an understanding of the historical, social, political, and economic context in which the education sector operates. Any movement serious about improving education and life outcomes for underserved student groups --…

One of the key priorities for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is alignment and conformity across different federal and state systems. ESSA gives states the flexibility to hold schools accountable, measure student outcomes, and provide supports and technical assistance in a way that is aligned with their own priorities. States are encouraged…

This brief report offers analysis of ACT and SAT results from 2008 to 2013 in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region. The brief focuses on the increase in test participation rates and points to policies that SREB states initiated that affected these rates. Five SREB states currently require 100 percent student participation on the…

State funding mechanisms are subject to intense political and economic scrutiny. The question asked most often tends to be, is the public getting sufficient return on their investment? Accountability standards arising from the No Child left Behind Act (NCLB) have sharpened the focus of this question to whether the students and schools are meeting…

This latest brief updates education leaders on the key policies the 13 (Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states plan to implement under federal waivers to No Child Left Behind. It details,…

In today's economy, employers increasingly demand that workers have a high school diploma, yet America's graduation rates are unacceptably low, particularly among poor and minority students. Nationally, only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma; for African American and Hispanic students, this…

This study compared the impact of state accountability examinations on social studies teachers' instructional practices. Data were obtained from a survey instrument given to a representative sample of Mississippi teachers who teach the same content tested on their state's high-stakes high school graduation examination and a representative sample…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Mississippi for 2010. Mississippi made changes to its state testing program in the 2007-08 school year. Therefore, subgroup and achievement gap trends could not be calculated because fewer than three consecutive years of data were available, too short a period to constitute a…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

SREB states were among the first in the nation to implement statewide high school exams. Today, these exams are a key component of each state's accountability system. This report identifies which states use comprehensive exams and which use end-of-course exams, how students perform on them, and whether achievement gaps have narrowed. It also…

Since much of the previous research on exit exams, including CEP's own work, has looked at national patterns of implementation and passing rates, this study aimed to benefit policy and practice by focusing on the local level. Specifically, case studies were conducted in Jackson, MS and Austin, TX that examined how classroom instruction and other…

Mississippi tech-prep coordinators were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the difficulty of their various job responsibilities as identified in the Mississippi Tech Prep Handbook Pilot Site Implementation Guide 1993-94 (1993). It was hypothesized that their perceptions would be influenced by the number of sites served by individual…

Issues pertinent to evaluation of statewide boards of higher education are considered, and the cases of South Carolina and several other states are covered. Evaluation is seen as a form of accountability. Reasons why better, more formal evaluation of statewide boards will be important to a wide range of constituencies--such as trends toward…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The 2011 State Teacher…

This Mississippi edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on…