Half of Mississippi schools and districts are high-performing despite higher standards this year, according to state education rankings released Thursday.
The more rigorous standards underscore state leaders’ efforts to continue the gains that have rocketed Mississippi to national stardom, education leaders said at a press conference about the new grades. The scores released Thursday reflect how schools fared in the 2025-26 school year.
“I’m very proud to say this: We increased our standards, and our districts have responded,” State Superintendent Lance Evans said. “Their performance and the efforts they’ve put forth, in my opinion, have been very successful.”
Superintendent of Education Lance Evans attends a board meeting at the Mississippi Department of Education building in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, July 17, 2025. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayThe Mississippi Board of Education created the accountability framework to judge how well schools serve their students and communities. The system — which awards up to 1,000 points to high schools and districts and 700 points to elementary and middle schools — takes into account state test scores, graduation rates and academic growth.
State law requires that standards increase when student proficiency rates exceed 75% or when 65% of schools or districts earn a grade of B or higher. After Mississippi met the threshold for grades in 2023, the education agency spent two years resetting the standards to be more challenging.
The new standards raise the scores required for each letter grade and place more weight on college and career readiness, and this is the first year that doesn’t include the U.S. History assessment, which the state Board of Education voted last June to remove as graduation requirement. The state Board of Education approved the new standards in November.
This year, 2024-25 reading scores might also be factored into accountability grades for some districts because the test was restructured.
In the months leading up to this release, the Mississippi Department of Education has said that this year’s letter grades should not be compared to previous years’ — however, point scores are comparable, said C. Alan Burrow, associate state superintendent.
Evans said the process is “an essential part of ensuring Mississippi students and schools continue to improve academically each year.”
“If we’re back here at the table in two years resetting the standards again, that won’t be a bad thing,” said Paula Vanderford, chief accountability officer for the agency, while presenting the new grades at the state Board of Education meeting on Thursday.
The board set a goal in 2016 that every school and district in Mississippi is rated C or higher. This year, 121 of the state’s 138 traditional public school districts were rated a C or above, or 87.6%, and 50.7% of districts earned a B or higher.
If the agency had not reset the standards this year, Vanderford noted that 70.7% of districts would have made a B or above.
All of the state’s public charter schools, though, were ranked C or lower.
The state’s largest school districts, such as DeSoto and Rankin County, continue to post top results. Delta schools appear to struggle in the rankings, but a closer look shows many of the region’s districts are posting improvements.
Many Jackson area and central Mississippi county school districts saw test score drops since last year. Others saw modest gains.
That wasn’t the case for the Simpson County School District.
Simpson upped its score by 46 points since last year, improving more than any other district in central Mississippi. Mendenhall Elementary moved from a D to a C rated school.
The district had a new superintendent this past year: Robert Sanders. He credits the improvements to dynamic building leadership and hard working students and staff.
Simpson County School District Superintendent Robert L. Sanders talks about the district while at Mendenhall Elementary School on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayThrough a partnership with The Kirkland Group, a Ridgeland-based educational consulting firm, teachers had help analyzing data on student progress. As a result, teachers could focus more on instruction and lesson planning.
“Back in the day, we had to do this work by hand,” recalled Tommy Brumfield, principal at Mendenhall Elementary School. “So now, teachers are able to spend more time, not just analyzing data, but being able to make plans from that data and doing something with it.”
Sanders inherited a district in need of better supervision. The district’s chronic absenteeism rate ranked third highest statewide in the 2024-25 school year. In response, Sanders dispatched principals and school staff to knock on doors in the community, and better learn the root causes of absenteeism. He said he’s since seen improvement.
Magee Middle School saw a 36% drop in its chronic absenteeism rate since last year. The school also moved 84 points on the state accountability scale.
“I’m very pleased within just one year to see a 46-point gain,” Sanders told Mississippi Today on Wednesday. “That speaks to the leadership in our schools, because that’s where it’s happening. You have to look at every child, and you have to make sure when they’re not performing where they need to be, find out why and do the things that will empower your needle to move the right way.”
And though districts closer to the Gulf Coast again dominated the list, some show slight declines.
Long Beach School District has seen the biggest drop among Gulf Coast districts in its state accountability score the past five years, though it’s held on to its A rating. Pascagoula-Gautier School District also retained its B, but the district dropped in points since last year.
Pascagoula-Gautier’s Superintendent Caterria Payton said the state education agency’s scores and grades don’t reflect the progress happening at her district. She highlighted three schools that improved by a letter grade, and emphasized that no schools earned a D rating.
“While these improvements have not yet resulted in the districtwide gains we expect, they demonstrate that progress is possible and that our efforts must remain focused and consistent,” she said in an emailed statement.
The Mississippi Department of Education is asking for $22 million more next year from the Legislature to focus on early education programs, dyslexia and dropout prevention initiatives.
Evans said as the state education agency prioritizes areas of improvement and raises expectations, he’s confident Mississippi districts will rise to the occasion.
“Overall, our districts have answered the call,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the outcome.”
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