MS HB68

Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules mandating upper middle and high schools evaluate academic aptitude and college readiness of students scoring Minimal or Basic on Grade 8 assessments before Grade 9 entry.

Mandates schools provide evidence-based remedial education courses in Grade 9 for students with identified deficiencies, encompassing 12 remediation courses covering mathematics, reading, writing, science, and history.

Establishes that students successfully testing out of remediation require 23 Carnegie units for graduation eligibility, and requires the State Board to set passing scores and rules by October 31, 2017 following a 2016-2017 pilot program.

Requires local school districts to develop remedial education implementation plans by March 1 of the fourth year after the "English Language Arts and Mathematics-Based Promotion Act" takes effect, with annual accountability reporting to the state.

Amends dual enrollment provisions to allow remedial education courses to be eligible for dual credit through the Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option Program, and updates funding formulas to use Grade 8 summative assessment and end-of-course test scores instead of the obsolete Functional Literacy Exam.