Mississippi Edition

The University of Mississippi is one step closer to relocating a Confederate monument. We talk to the Associated Student Body President.

Plus, a special feature on the immigrant communities affected by the August ICE raids.

And, Mississippi fourth graders have shown the greatest reading gains in the country according to the National Assessment of Education Progress. We take a close look at some of the practices that may explain this rise.

Segment 1:

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has approved a motion from the University of Mississippi's Associated Student Body to relocate a Confederate monument. The statue currently resides in a prominent location outside of the school's administrative buildings. The approved motion would move the statue to the Confederate cemetery on campus. As President of the ASB Barron Mayfield tells our Michael Guidry, the relocation is a sign the University community is progress-minded.

Former students are also weighing in on the relocation. Je'Monda Roy is a University of Mississippi alumna. She tells MBP's Ashley Norwood that the statue's presence makes members of her community feel unwelcome.

Segment 2:

Mississippi communities are pooling resources to help undocumented immigrants cope with the fallout from the ICE raids earlier this year. MPB's Desare Frazier visits one community to see how their managing relief efforts. 

Segment 3:

Fourth grade students in Mississippi have outgained their national peers in reading according to the latest National Assessment of Education Progress. Emily Hanford is an education reporter for American Public Media who has looked closely at the science of reading, and how that science is being implemented in classrooms across the country. She talks with us about how Mississippi is utilizing this research and how it may account for those gains in reading.