Last week, the Mississippi Student Testing Task Force voted to recommend the elimination of the U.S. History ‘end-of-course’ assessment. Today, the Commission on School Accreditation (CSA) voted unanimously to accept that recommendation.
Related: Task force votes to eliminate U.S. History ‘end-of-course’ exam
The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) will now begin the ‘public comment’ process to eliminate the exam.
The Commission’s recommendation will be presented to the SBE at its September Board meeting. If the SBE votes to accept the Commission’s recommendation, the final decision will occur at the conclusion of the public comment period and after comments have been reviewed.
Any decision to remove the U.S. History end-of-course assessment would not be effective until the 2020-21 school year. U.S. History will remain a required course for graduation.
The Commission’s decision follows the task force vote to recommend elimination of the U.S. History end-of-course exam on the heels of a survey of secondary education teachers who voted to eliminate the exam. The U.S. History end-of-course exam is the only state test not required by federal or state law.
The U.S. History exam is given to high school students upon completion of the course. It is one of four end-of-course assessments that SBE policy requires students to take to graduate. The other tests, in Biology, Algebra I and English II, are required by federal law. Students don’t have to pass the subject area tests to graduate, as the SBE offers several options for students to earn a diploma.
