In the first episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, Jed Clampett’s sister asks how much the oil company is going to pay him for the oil on his property. Jed said, “Twelve dollars.” His sister was shocked: “Only twelve dollars?!” Jed replied, “Yeah, but it’s some new kind of dollar. I’ve heard of paper dollars, and I’ve heard of silver dollars, but these are called mill-ee-yun’ dollars.” (more…)

The new school ratings are out, and some education leaders are saying the new A-F rating system is tougher than the old model. The fact is that the new system changed nothing except the labels. It did nothing to toughen the formula that is used to derive those labels, and in fact it was actually easier to achieve an A or B this year because the State Board of Education voted to exclude graduation rates from their grading formula this year. (more…)

Fact Check: A-F Ratings

CLAIM: The new A-F ratings are tougher than the old system.
FACT: The new A-F system changed nothing except the labels. "Star" became A, "High Performing" became B, "Successful" changed to C, "Academic Watch" changed to D, and "Low (more…)

We all want our public schools to succeed. But what, exactly, does "success" mean?

In a few days the Mississippi Department of Education will release the ratings for public schools and school districts in our state. For the first time ever, schools and districts will be graded A, B, C, D, or F.
(more…)

Mississippi 2012 ACT Scores Remain Flat

The ACT is a curriculum-based measure of college readiness. (more…)

This page previously linked to data provided by the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE). The Alliance uses what it calls a "Promoting Power" indicator as a means of identifying the "lowest-performing high schools" in each state. These high schools are more popularly known as "dropout factories." According to AEE, a dropout factory is defined as follows: (more…)

Below is a list of high schools ranked by descending order of graduation rate. This data was released by the Mississippi Department of Education for the 2010-2011 school year. It is available online here. (more…)

Contrary to what was reported in this newspaper on Sunday, I did not "help design the [state health insurance] exchange used today," and I have consistently opposed the creation of an exchange under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A brief call to my office before publishing these inaccuracies - and others - would have been helpful. (more…)