In 2014, Mississippi initiated its third-grade gate program in an effort to improve reading scores by retaining third-graders who could not pass the state reading tests. Since the gate was implemented, Mississippi has seen the fastest growth in reading scores in the nation. By 2019, Mississippi’s 4th graders climbed from nearly last in the country to the national average, a phenomenon now widely studied by other states as the “Mississippi Miracle.”
No one would say that improvement is anything less than remarkable, but the “miracle” is what has happened to the state’s high school graduation rate and high school drop-out rates over the past 20 years.
In 2005, Mississippi’s high school graduation rate was disturbing 61%, lowest in the nation along with Nevada and Louisiana. The drop-out rate in the state (26.6%) was among the highest in the nation.
This week, the Mississippi Department of Education released its graduation and drop-out data for the 2024-25 school year. Mississippi’s graduation rate is at an all-time of 90.8%, well ahead of the national average of 87.4%. The Mississippi drop-out rate (7%) is almost 20 points lower than the 2005 rate of 26.6%.
The math whizzes among readers are probably asking why the combined graduation rate and drop-out rate don’t equal 100%. The reason is because of how they are counted. Graduation rates are calculated on a four-year period beginning when the student enters ninth grade. It doesn’t count the students who have not graduated in four years, but are still in school and not drop-outs.
Drilling down into the data, the improvements in graduation and drop-out rates among Black students is extremely encouraging
Over the past 10 years, the Black graduation rate grew from 72% to 88%. The gap between Black and white graduation rates narrowed from 11.5% to 7%.
These improvements are substantial, but we are reluctant to call any of these gains a miracle, which is defined as things that occur that cannot be explained by science.
The truth is there is nothing miraculous above what has happened. They are the result of good policy, more funding and the hard work of school administrators, teachers, staff, students.
Education experts attribute this 30% jump in graduation rates to several factors, including the previously-mentioned third-grade gate that shifted the focus to literacy-based promotion. Multiple graduation pathways also help, especially Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. The graduation rate for CTE students is 97%. Suddenly, non-college bound students saw something tangible in continuing high school, thanks to these programs.
These are achievements worth celebrating.
And worth building upon.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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