Study ranks best, worst states for student success during COVID. MS is near the bottom.
Mississippi public schools were ranked among the worst in the United States for student success during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.
Scholaroo’s mission was to find the country’s best and worst school systems based on dozens of performance metrics as COVID-19 ravaged the U.S., and compared the 50 states using thee key dimensions: student success, school quality and school safety tips.
Forty-two relevant metrics were used inside of the key dimensions to develop a score and rank the states.
Some of the metrics used in the scoring include:
- High school graduation rate
- High school dropout rate
- ACT scores
- Annual per-pupil spending
- Bullying rate
Scholaroo used data collected from a three-week period at the beginning of 2022 to develop the score card for each state.
Mississippi ranks 41 overall in student success, according to Scholaroo data.
The states that rank below the Magnolia State are, in order from best to worst:
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- California
- Oklahoma
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- Louisiana
- Arizona
The top 10 states in the U.S. for student success are:
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
- New York
- Virginia
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maryland
- Delaware
- Minnesota
Mississippi had the third highest dropout rate and third lowest teacher salaries, according to the Scholaroo report.
Coast students had lower scores on state standardized tests in 2020-2021 compared to 2019-2020, but remained mostly above statewide averages at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted curriculum.
Kindergarten readiness scores dropped also across Mississippi when compared to data from 2019, but Coast schools again performed better than most of the state. Pass Christian schools scored the best overall, followed by the Biloxi and Ocean Springs school districts.
You can see the full Scholaroo analysis at https://scholaroo.com/best-worst-school-systems/.
