MISSISSIPPI

ficiency levels grew, a pattern that held true for most other measures.

Gaps did narrow between multiracial and white students. And students with limited English skills narrowed the distance between them and native English speakers on math tests, although not on English language arts tests.

State testing and performance director Walt Drane said state officials aren't sure why the gaps widened. Data Analytics Director Anna Furniss suggested it could be because minority groups are more transient, making it harder for school officials to track them.

Among Mississippi districts, the achievement gap tends to be most severe in districts that serve a diverse mix of students, with some very high achievers. Even students on the wrong end of a divide in higher-performing districts can be scoring higher than students in lower-performing districts. On the other hand, gaps are narrow in some districts because all students are performing poorly.

Much attention has been focused on the issue in Oxford, which is not only the top scoring school district in the state, but a district with some of the biggest chasms between performance by rich and poor students and black and white students. Some of Oxford's gaps got narrower last year, and Superintendent Brian Harvey said the district worked hard to make that progress. He said Oxford saw more parity in ACT college test scores and advanced coursework as well.

"We're still not proud of where we are, but we're proud we're moving in the right direction," Harvey said.