Mississippi’s Education Transformation: SAS Dashboard Reveals Pandemic Impact and Federal Funding Allocation
The State of Mississippi has made significant strides in its education system, earning praise for its innovative efforts and earning the moniker of the Mississippi Miracle. A key component of this transformation is a new analytics tool developed by SAS, a leader in data analytics. This tool provides valuable insights into the impact of the pandemic on student achievement and progress, as well as how federal funds are being allocated to support student learning.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves expressed his enthusiasm for the new dashboard, stating that it offers the public a unique opportunity to access and analyze education data, fostering a better understanding of the ongoing work to improve Mississippi’s education system.
The online dashboard is the result of a collaboration between the Mississippi Department of Education, the Mississippi State University Research & Curriculum Unit, and SAS. By leveraging data analytics, the dashboard provides valuable insights into how different student groups have fared during the pandemic. It offers a detailed analysis of the pandemic’s impact on student groups, enabling educators and school leaders to make informed decisions to facilitate recovery.
In addition to assessing the impact of the pandemic on student achievement, the dashboard also allows users to track how each school district in Mississippi is utilizing federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. These funds are intended to support students in catching up and accelerating their learning, and they can be used to improve school facilities as well.
Mississippi has gained national recognition for its achievements in education. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the Nation’s Report Card), Mississippi students have shown the largest gains in the nation in fourth-grade reading and math. Furthermore, the state has been lauded by the National Institute for Early Education Research as one of the top five states for high-quality pre-K education. Mississippi’s high school graduation rate is also at an all-time high, surpassing the national average.
As part of its proactive approach to education, Mississippi has embraced data as a strategic asset to support students and teachers. By harnessing the power of analytics, the state aims to track the effectiveness of federal funds in driving learning recovery.
Dr. Melody Schopp, the former South Dakota Secretary of Education and current Director of Education Industry Consulting at SAS, commended Mississippi’s commitment to utilizing data. She stated that forward-thinking states are not only using data to recover from the pandemic but are also leveraging it to emerge stronger than before. Mississippi is on this path of progress and success.
The joint effort between Mississippi and SAS to combat learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic is not an isolated case. Many other states have collaborated with SAS to measure the impact of the pandemic on student learning using statistical approaches that have been proven over decades. These approaches assess students based on their own past performance, predicting how they would have performed on assessments in the absence of the pandemic.
The Mississippi dashboards are built on SAS Viya, a cloud-based platform that encompasses AI, machine learning, analytics, and data management capabilities. This sophisticated framework ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data and insights provided by the dashboard. For more information on SAS and its efforts to combat learning loss and drive recovery, interested parties can visit the SAS website’s dedicated page on learning loss.
As Mississippi continues to forge ahead in its transformation of education, this new SAS dashboard serves as a powerful tool in understanding and addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic. By leveraging data and analytics, Mississippi is empowering educators, school leaders, and the public at large to make informed decisions that will drive the continued improvement of its education system.
