Graduating seniors will no longer have to pass a U.S. history state assessment after the Mississippi State Board of Education voted on June 19 to eliminate the requirement beginning in the fall. 

“Though the U.S. history statewide assessment will be eliminated starting next school year, it’s important to emphasize that students will still learn U.S. history and will be required to successfully complete the course to graduate,” Mississippi Superintendent of Education Dr. Lance Evans said in a statement on June 19. “Having fewer state tests required to graduate should be less taxing on educators, students and families alike.”

Mississippi students must still pass state assessments in algebra, biology and English language arts as prescribed by federal law. The U.S. History course will also remain a graduation requirement.

The Commission on School Accreditation initially proposed eliminating the U.S. history assessment in April. During that meeting, several education board members expressed concern about removing the requirement.

“I think history is so important. Even from a former English teacher, if you don’t have the history, you have a very hard time understanding the literature,” board member Mary Werner said. 

Werner was the lone dissenting vote against moving the recommendation to public comment. She later co-authored an opinion piece with U.S. Senator Roger Wicker on the subject.

“When our students cross the graduation stage, they reach out to receive their diploma. The hand-off is more than a picture-perfect moment. It is a symbol of one generation bestowing the responsibilities of citizenship onto next,” the article stated. “In Mississippi, those duties come quickly. We hold elections every single year. Within one or two cycles, all the graduates will have had a chance to exercise their fundamental right to vote. It would be reassuring to know they are equipped with the civics and history knowledge they will need to choose wisely in the ballot box.”

Sample tests from the MDE website included questions on topics ranging from civil rights to the U.S. stock market.

Board Chair Glen East also expressed some concern during the April board meeting, but said that he believes the work the state and country have done to improve history education will fill the gap. 

“It is the age-old argument that if you do not have a society that is adept in history, you’re bound to repeat your past, East said. “I believe that the adjustments that we’ve made over the last 10 years have began to help address that across our country and in our state, and we have to count on history teachers that understand that it is their role is to make sure that we understand the history of our country and our state to be successful.”

Torsheta Jackson is MFP's Systemic and Education Editor. She is passionate about telling the unique and personal stories of the people, places and events in Mississippi. The Shuqualak, Miss., native holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi. She has had bylines on Bash Brothers Media, Mississippi Scoreboard and in the Jackson Free Press. Torsheta lives in Richland, Miss., with her husband, Victor, and two of their four children.

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