The United States will not achieve equal opportunity in K-12 education until the nation addresses the childhood literacy crisis. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, more than half of children from lower-socioeconomic households scored “below basic” in reading on the fourth grade reading test.
Leaders in state capitals and school districts across the nation have a responsibility to ensure children are taught to read in elementary school.
Mississippi provides a shining example of what’s possible when a state commits to improving literacy. In the early 2000s, Mississippi students’ test scores were among the lowest in the nation. But according to recent tests, no state has made more progress in academic achievement. Importantly, the state’s economically disadvantaged students had the highest fourth grade reading scores in the nation in 2024.
In January, Governor Tate Reeves celebrated the state’s test scores:
“This is another massively historic win for education in Mississippi. Mississippi fourth graders aren’t just one of the best in reading and math gains — they’re the best in the nation. And when you look at the historic performance of Mississippi’s eighth graders, as well as African American and Hispanic students, it’s undeniable that something special is happening in classrooms all across our state. Thank you to all of the parents, teachers and students for once again making history! Keep up the good work!”
This success that Governor Reeves described has been dubbed the “Mississippi Miracle.” Mississippi’s success is largely based on the embrace of the “science of reading” and phonics to improve literacy. But the miracle was made possible by focused leadership from the state capital out to public schools across Mississippi.
In 2013, then-Governor Phil Bryant signed into law the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which established a comprehensive strategy for improving reading instruction in the state’s public schools. A centerpiece of the reform established policies to end social promotion for children who could not read in third grade and to provide extensive interventions to help children meet that requirement. At the time, then-Lt. Governor Reeves predicted that Mississippi children would answer this challenge: “Mississippi students will rise up to meet these new standards for academic achievement, and parents will respond by demanding better from principals and teachers.”
It took years of hard work to achieve Mississippi’s literacy turnaround. Dr. Laurie Todd Smith, who served as an education and child care leader in the state government at the time, recently described the hard work that made the Mississippi Miracle possible:
The Literacy-Based Promotion Act did more than require teachers to use phonics instruction; it rebuilt our early-literacy system from the classroom up. The Act required that every K–3 teacher be retrained in evidence-based reading instruction through the LETRS training. The Act required that reading coaches be deployed in the lowest-performing districts to model instruction and provide daily feedback to teachers. Early-childhood programs, such as Mississippi Building Blocks and the Pre-K Collaboratives, were aligned with K–3 goals, ensuring that children arrived at kindergarten ready to learn. For the first time, every district used the same universal screener within the first 30 days of kindergarten.
Dr. Smith also explains that the state used three tests a year from kindergarten through third grade to measure students’ progress and to inform classroom instruction. The state required that children repeat third grade if they were still struggling to read, and ensured that being held back wasn’t a punishment. Children were placed with new, high-quality teachers, provided an hour of daily reading instruction, and given an “Individualized Reading Plan” with their family. Dr. Smith credits Mississippi’s leadership for the sustained progress: “Governor Bryant’s leadership ignited the revolution and Governor Reeves ensures it continues.”
In his 2025 State of the State address, Governor Reeves celebrated the academic progress and committed to maintaining the state’s high standards to ensure that all children can learn to read. He also called for additional reforms to strengthen accountability and parental choice in education. It is for this reason that FREOPP is proudly presenting Governor Reeves with the Frederick Douglass Award at our upcoming Freedom and Progress Summit.
Former Mississippi state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright also an important role in leading the state’s education agency during the turnaround. “Educators do not call these achievements a “miracle” because we know Mississippi’s progress in education is the result of strong policies, the effective implementation of a comprehensive statewide strategy and years of hard work from the state to the classroom level,” Dr. Wright wrote in 2023.
Governors and state superintendents across the nation should study the Mississippi model. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a majority of the states have now enacted laws to require “evidence-based instruction, teacher training, and interventions for struggling readers.”
These trends are encouraging. Parents across the nation should welcome the renewed focus on the science of reading. But miracles in childhood literacy don’t happen overnight. The Mississippi model shows that a comprehensive approach, as well as leadership and commitment from the state capital all the way to the classroom is needed to deliver statewide improvement in public schools.