Education board axes US history test for Mississippi high schoolers

Education board axes U.S. history test for Mississippi high schoolers

by Devna Bose, Mississippi Today
June 19, 2025

Mississippi high schoolers no longer have to pass the U.S. history test to graduate.

The Mississippi State Board of Education voted Thursday to remove the requirement starting this fall.

Department officials reiterated at the meeting that high schoolers would still have to take and pass history classes to graduate.

Paula Vanderford, the education department’s chief accountability officer, said the agency has informally discussed releasing test resources to local districts if they want to create their own assessments.

She said at a previous board meeting that getting rid of the test would save the state money.

The state board voted to open public comments about the decision in April after the Commission on School Accreditation voted to propose eliminating the test. Ultimately, it received 20 comments in support of the test’s removal, many of them from parents who cited their children’s test anxiety, and 16 against it, arguing that getting rid of the test would diminish the importance of the country’s history.

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker recently co-authored an editorial advocating against removing the U.S. history state test with board member Mary Werner, who voted against the decision at the meeting.

“Our state has been making remarkable strides in education, and this progress is equipping the very Mississippians who will lead our state into the 21st century,” the editorial reads. “As they take on our future, we believe they should be as knowledgeable as possible about our past.”

Werner said after the meeting that she was "disappointed" in the board's decision because the history test provided a measure of accountability for teachers.

Passing the state algebra I, biology and English language arts tests will remain a graduation requirement. The U.S. history assessment was the sole test not required by state or federal law.

“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,” said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education, in a press release. “Having fewer state tests required to graduate should be less taxing on educators, students and families alike.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.