I think it is wrong to judge the effectiveness of a state's school system on a single metric. Indeed, Mississippi did have a surge in reading and math when the state did what all nations that have high achievement do. They created high expectations and created highly trained teachers in the science of reading (not comprehensively highly trained teachers). Mississippi's surge in achievement levels out after 8th grade. Other nations with high achievement devote adequate resources and hold teachers in high esteem. The US has not learned that lesson yet.
I think it’s important to talk about Mississippi and Louisiana, as Chad’s piece did. If you look at Louisiana and Tennessee, we get a broader picture and we see evidence of gains in upper grades.
Note that MS also began showing progress in 8th grade in the most recent NAEP cycle… nothing like its 4th grade progress, but that is to be expected if you look closely at the sequence of its reforms. Mississippi was late to knowledge-building curriculum, so the state is playing catch-up on comprehension.
As expected, this is typical MAGA cherry-picked data with flimsy, superficial analysis, basing an entire state's progress on one favorable data point. A few minutes of research reveals one item that NJ taxpayers get for its school spending: Special Education support. If your kid has special needs, you don't want him or her anywhere near Mississippi, and if you care about other families' kids, you're a solid contributor to "the village" that takes care of ALL of our children.
"Mississippi spends the least on special education among states analyzed, with an average of $5,265 per pupil in a 2024 report. Overall, public schools in Mississippi received $1.3 billion in federal funds for the 2021-22 school year, which includes funding for special education, but this is part of a broader national picture where special education costs can be a burden on state and local budgets." -- https://bellwether.org/publications/who-pays-for-special-education/?activeTab=1
Compare that to NJ:
For the 2021-2022 school year, the average budgetary cost per special education pupil was $18,208.
We're an affluent state, and we can afford to help our neediest. But that means we have to spend more. This price doesn't show up in NAEP scores.
I don't have time nor can I fit more into this little box. But maybe others can join in.
Oh - and for "copying playbooks"? Nice try, but it's the other way around. NJ is already near the top. Mississippi has learned from NJ, not vice versa.
One reason I prefer looking at income categories is because it's hard to compare students with disabilities across states given the different identification strategies. For example, New Jersey identifies a higher percentage of students for disability services (18 percent versus 16 in MS and 13 in LA). Does that mean NJ has more students in need, or do they use different criteria?
Bravo!! Thank you for this breakdown! It's the same story, if not worse, in Wisconsin.
The variation in costs is another unbelievable metric. What do we "get" for our investments?
I think it is wrong to judge the effectiveness of a state's school system on a single metric. Indeed, Mississippi did have a surge in reading and math when the state did what all nations that have high achievement do. They created high expectations and created highly trained teachers in the science of reading (not comprehensively highly trained teachers). Mississippi's surge in achievement levels out after 8th grade. Other nations with high achievement devote adequate resources and hold teachers in high esteem. The US has not learned that lesson yet.
I think it’s important to talk about Mississippi and Louisiana, as Chad’s piece did. If you look at Louisiana and Tennessee, we get a broader picture and we see evidence of gains in upper grades.
Note that MS also began showing progress in 8th grade in the most recent NAEP cycle… nothing like its 4th grade progress, but that is to be expected if you look closely at the sequence of its reforms. Mississippi was late to knowledge-building curriculum, so the state is playing catch-up on comprehension.
I wrote about all of the above here:
https://www.karenvaites.org/p/the-southern-surge-understanding
As expected, this is typical MAGA cherry-picked data with flimsy, superficial analysis, basing an entire state's progress on one favorable data point. A few minutes of research reveals one item that NJ taxpayers get for its school spending: Special Education support. If your kid has special needs, you don't want him or her anywhere near Mississippi, and if you care about other families' kids, you're a solid contributor to "the village" that takes care of ALL of our children.
"Mississippi spends the least on special education among states analyzed, with an average of $5,265 per pupil in a 2024 report. Overall, public schools in Mississippi received $1.3 billion in federal funds for the 2021-22 school year, which includes funding for special education, but this is part of a broader national picture where special education costs can be a burden on state and local budgets." -- https://bellwether.org/publications/who-pays-for-special-education/?activeTab=1
Compare that to NJ:
For the 2021-2022 school year, the average budgetary cost per special education pupil was $18,208.
We're an affluent state, and we can afford to help our neediest. But that means we have to spend more. This price doesn't show up in NAEP scores.
I don't have time nor can I fit more into this little box. But maybe others can join in.
Oh - and for "copying playbooks"? Nice try, but it's the other way around. NJ is already near the top. Mississippi has learned from NJ, not vice versa.
One reason I prefer looking at income categories is because it's hard to compare students with disabilities across states given the different identification strategies. For example, New Jersey identifies a higher percentage of students for disability services (18 percent versus 16 in MS and 13 in LA). Does that mean NJ has more students in need, or do they use different criteria?
I enjoyed reading your article
and also, thanks NJ for sending all those tax dollars that way