U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today attended the Mississippi State Board of Education meeting and participated in an education policy roundtable discussion with Gov. Haley Barbour and Mississippi Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds in Jackson, Miss. Spellings discussed progress toward No Child Left Behind goals in Mississippi and across the country.

During her visit, Secretary Spellings also announced a $1.6 million School Improvement Grant for Mississippi to help turn around low-performing schools. This grant will help Mississippi take a greater role in developing and delivering comprehensive leadership and technical assistance to help reform schools and districts that are not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

"We can be proud of the change No Child Left Behind has brought to education in this nation," said Secretary Spellings. "Because of this law, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have assessment systems, report disaggregated data and target federal resources to serve their neediest students. Now it's time to build on this momentum by addressing the challenges the law has helped to uncover."

At the roundtable, Secretary Spellings discussed a new tool recently released by the U.S. Department of Education, Mapping Mississippi's Educational Progress 2008, which provides a comparative look at the state's key No Child Left Behind indicators.

"Mississippi educators and administrators deserve a lot of credit for developing a strong data system to take an honest, accurate look at your challenges," Secretary Spellings said. "But you have important work ahead to raise both achievement and standards." She also praised Mississippi for working to develop a more rigorous assessment.

To view Mapping Mississippi's Educational Progress 2008, please visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/ms.html.

For Mapping America's Educational Progress 2008, visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/nation.html.

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