Press Release
February 11, 2025
Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342
Mississippi Ranked 6th Among States in Math Recovery and 4th in Reading Between 2019 and 2024.
The average student in some districts, such as Lamar County, Desoto County, Lee County, Biloxi, Tupelo, Gulfport, Hinds County, Meridian, and Jackson Public School District, remains at least half of a grade equivalent below their 2019 mean achievement in math.
A sharp rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10% of a school year) from 17 percent of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 25% in 2024 is slowing the recovery in many districts across Mississippi.
(February 11, 2025) In its third year of reporting on the pace of academic recovery measures in districts nationwide, the Education Recovery Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.
The latest report also provides the first high resolution picture of where Mississippi students’ academic recovery stood in Spring 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September. While the National Assessment of Educational Progress described changes in average achievement by state, we combine those scores with district scores on state assessments to describe the change in local communities throughout Mississippi. Here’s what we found:
- Mississippi ranked 6th among states in terms of recovery in math and 4th in reading between 2019 and 2024.
- Yet even in Mississippi, students remain over a quarter of a grade level behind 2019 levels in math (.28 grade equivalents) and over 20% of a grade level behind in reading (.22 grade equivalents). In other words, the loss in achievement in Mississippi is over 25 percent of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8.
- The average student in some districts, such as Lamar County, Desoto County, Lee County, Biloxi, Tupelo, Gulfport, Hinds County, Meridian, and Jackson Public School District, remains at least half of a grade equivalent below their 2019 mean achievement in math; the same is true for reading in Tupelo, Jackson Public School District, and Jones County.
- Reading is more of a concern in Mississippi than math, with 84 percent of students in districts with average reading achievement below 2019 levels, compared to 76 percent in math. This is true in many other states, with 89 percent of students in districts nationally below 2019 levels in reading, and only 11 percent surpassing 2019 levels.
- Still, there are bright spots: mean achievement for students in Ocean Springs, Lauderdale County, Harrison County, and Vicksburg Warren have exceeded 2019 levels in reading, while Clinton, Meridian, and Pascagoula-Gautier are approaching a reading recovery.
- A sharp rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10 percent of a school year) from 17 percent of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 25 percent in 2024 is slowing the recovery in many districts in Mississippi.
- Mississippi received over $2.5 billion in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—or roughly $5,300 per student—which is more than the national average of $3700 per student. Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.
One of the project leaders, Professor Tom Kane from Harvard, said: “Unless state and local leaders step up now, the achievement losses will be the longest lasting– and most inequitable– legacy of the pandemic.”
The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many Mississippi schools. Even without federal relief dollars, states could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown effective, such as tutoring and summer learning. State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools to redouble efforts on the shared challenge of reducing student absenteeism.
For the national press release and findings click here
About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University
The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.
Contact: Sam Stockwell, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0342