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Education chief outlines accountability changes, flags chronic absenteeism and requests coaching funding
Summary
The Mississippi Department of Education told the JLBC it will shift accountability weighting toward proficiency and career readiness, pursue coaching initiatives for adolescent literacy and K–6 math, expand synchronous virtual learning pilots, and asked for supplemental funding while warning of high chronic absenteeism and inconsistencies in attendance coding across districts.
Dr. Evans of the Mississippi Department of Education briefed the JLBC on assessment results and planned changes to the accountability model, the department’s classroom priorities, and the state’s chronic absenteeism problem.
Evans said Mississippi has seen gains on NAEP and on state‑administered assessments since 2019, though the department flagged a recent dip in some proficiency measures and said the state will reset standards and adjust the accountability matrix to place greater weight on proficiency and college‑and‑career readiness (moving US history points into CCR). The department described a hybrid norm/criterion approach to letter grades and said new performance‑level descriptors and public transparency will accompany the change.
On instruction, MDE proposed a FY27 budget with requests for an adolescent literacy initiative focused on grades 4–8 (aiming for about 80 literacy coaches), expansion of math coaching for grades 2–6, and scaling synchronous virtual learning to support districts with teacher shortages. Officials said these interventions are intended to address mid‑grade declines in reading and math proficiency.
Committee members pressed the department about chronic absenteeism — the department cited a ~24% chronic absenteeism rate and emphasized that district coding practices vary widely, producing inconsistent measurements. Evans said MDE will standardize attendance coding, clarify what should be considered excused administrative absences (field trips, school activities), and produce district‑by‑district chronic absenteeism numbers in short order for legislative review. The department also proposed raising starting pay and expanding the number of school attendance officers if funding is provided.
Lawmakers signaled interest in translating these proposals into the budget and in quick follow‑up: they asked for a clear staffing and funding plan for attendance officers and for the department’s analysis of how the accountability changes will alter school grades when implemented for next year’s results.
