NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: January 21, 2021
JACKSON, Miss. – Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education, highlighted the resilience of students and educators today in her annual report on the progress of the Mississippi State Board of Education Strategic Plan.
Dr. Wright's report included details about the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) work during the 2019-20 school year, including key actions MDE took to manage the impact of COVID-19 on students, educators and schools and to prepare for the 2020-21 school year.
Report highlights:
- Mississippi Connects digital learning initiative secured 390,000 computer devices for public-school students and teachers
- 9.5 million free meals were served to Mississippi students during school building shutdowns in the spring and over the summer; schools continue to serve 7.5 million free meals monthly to students
- MDE and partner groups created new resources for students and teachers including:
- MPB Education TV Channel with lessons in math, science, English Language Arts, early childhood, art and physical education
- High-Quality Instructional Materials website for teachers: msinstructionalmaterials.org
- Website to help families assist children from birth to grade 5 to develop literacy skills: strongreadersms.com
- Social and emotional learning standards to support students beyond academics
- Mississippi students and schools continued to achieve national recognition, including:
- Quality Counts ranked Mississippi No. 2 in the nation for improvement in education
- National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) named Mississippi one of only four states meeting all quality standards for pre-K
- Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) granted Mississippi its 2020 State Leadership Award for increasing literacy and mathematics achievement and building networked communities focused on school improvement in the middle grades
- SREB recognized Mississippi for leading in K-12 progress and college persistence among southern states
“I am proud of all the work that students, teachers, school leaders and MDE staff accomplished before and throughout the pandemic,” said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education. “This year has tested us all in ways we could never have anticipated. Mississippi’s public education community showed tremendous resilience in rising to the challenge.”
View the 2021 Strategic Plan Annual Progress Report online at mdek12.org/MBE/StrategicPlan.
Media Contact:
Patrice Guilfoyle, APR
Director of Communications
601-359-3515
pguilfoyle@mdek12.org
Jean Cook, APR
Director of Public Relations
601-359-3515
jcook@mdek12.org