Mississippi Digital Learning Landscape
| State virtual school? | NO |
| Multi-district fully online schools? | NO |
| Online learning requirement for graduation? | NO |
| State approval process for online providers? | NO |
| State approval process for online courses? | YES |
Mississippi has minimal digital learning activity. There are some district programs, but the state virtual school has been eliminated and there are no multi-district fully online schools in the state.
The State Board of Education spelled out established policy for virtual schools in 2006 and retains approval authority for online course providers in the state. Online courses must be approved through the Mississippi Online Course Approval (MOCA) process. Per MOCA, “A district may work with other districts to submit a Mississippi Online Course Approval (MOCA) when multiple districts plan to offer courses provided by the same vendor. A district online course review team must be comprised of a minimum of three (3) reviewers, to include at least two (2) district content specialists (classroom teachers, curriculum specialists) and one district (1) technology specialist to complete the review.” MOCA has approved over 400 courses from 11 providers for the 2022-23 SY. Districts offering online courses to their students work directly with these providers.
Online programs in the state include:
Booneville School District Online is one of the more established online programs in the state and has a number of MOCA approved courses used by districts across Mississippi.
Mississippi State University supports an online high school program as does the University of Mississippi. Both programs have MOCA approved courses used by districts across Mississippi and require a course fee.
Gulfport School District’s Virtual Academy offers a K-10 virtual learning program.
Although the Mississippi Department of Education does not have a virtual school, its Mississippi Connects program provides a device (laptop or tablet) for every public-school student.
State Policies
No major legislation impacting online and/or blended learning was passed January through August 2022.
HB369 (2013) the Mississippi Charter Schools Act of 2013, updates the previous charter school law, the New Start School Program and Conversion Charter School Act, which allows only an existing school that fails for three consecutive years to request the state board turn it into a charter. As of September 2022, there are no approved virtual charter schools, in part because the state does not have an open enrollment policy that would allow an online school to draw students from across the state.