We don’t normally cover out-of-town news, much less out of state. But as local schools prepare to ask for another budget increase Friday, we thought the academic success Mississippi is seeing with a back- to- basics approach might be of interest.
The “Mississippi Miracle” has been getting a lot of press lately for its success in raising reading and math scores among elementary students.
Mississippi, the poorest state in the union, has all the problems that leaders of the Williamsburg-James City County schools blame in part for our third graders’ poor reading scores in the Standards of Learning tests. It has a large population of minority students who come from poor homes.
But over the past few years, according to the left-leaning think tank Urban Institute, Mississippi 4th graders rank at the top of national assessment tests in reading and math, once results are adjusted for demographics. Its 8th graders rank at or near the top.
“I have kept up with Mis…