Mississippi raising A-F school standards, national consultant says
Mississippi will tighten its A-F school grading scale for the 2025-26 school year and could show fewer As and Bs even as more students reach proficiency, Christy Hovanetz wrote in a guest column for Mississippi Today.
Hovanetz, a senior policy fellow at the national education nonprofit ExcelinEd, said the move follows a state law that requires raising expectations once 75% of students reach proficiency or 65% of schools earn a B or higher. She wrote that the Mississippi Board of Education and the Mississippi Department of Education convened a panel of state educators and national experts to recommend a more rigorous grading scale, and the board approved the recommendation.
Hovanetz said the change is intended to prevent complacency as student performance improves. She wrote that Mississippi has moved from one of the lowest-performing states in fourth-grade reading in 2013 to the ninth best state in 2025 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and that math scores improved across all four major NAEP categories.
The consultant said lawmakers this year appropriated more than $9 million to support adolescent literacy, including measures to end the practice known as three-cueing and to require evidence-based literacy instruction. She also wrote that leaders are investing $3.48 million to bolster the Math Act, supporting math coaches, a K-5 universal math screener and the adoption of high-quality instructional materials — policies ExcelinEd endorses.
Hovanetz wrote that while some communities may be frustrated when letter grades drop, the change is meant to keep improving outcomes and ensure students are prepared for post-graduation paths. In her column she noted her background as a former assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Education and assistant deputy commissioner at the Florida Department of Education, and identified ExcelinEd as a national nonprofit formed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Source: Original Article
