08/12/2026
📖 Big congratulations to Dr. Phelton Moss, assistant professor of educational leadership, whose research was just published in the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership! 🎉
Dr. Moss spent a year documenting a remarkable story out of Jefferson County, Mississippi: Superintendent Dr. Adrian D. Hammitte returned home to lead his own community's school district — and helped drive real, sustained gains in third-grade reading.
What made the difference? A strategy centered on investing in school leaders and building strong professional learning systems. This small, rural, majority-Black district has now been recognized by the state for closing equity gaps and getting more students reading on grade level, year after year.
"A community, a leader, and a plan coming together to change outcomes for kids." That's the story — and we're proud one of our faculty got to tell it.
Read the full case study 👉 https://ow.ly/Ijhn50Zy2fB