Mississippi’s education miracle: A model for global literacy reform

In a surprising turnaround, Mississippi, once ranked near the bottom of U.S. education standings, has dramatically improved its student literacy rates.

As of 2023, the state ranks among the top 20 for fourth grade reading, a significant leap from its 49th-place ranking in 2013. This transformation was driven by evidence-based policy reforms focused on early literacy and teacher development.

The rest of the country might want to take note.

That’s because Mississippi’s success offers a proven solution to the reading literacy crisis facing many states – a clear road map for closing early literacy gaps and improving reading outcomes nationwide.

As an expert on the economics of education, I believe the learning crisis is not just an educational issue. It’s also economic.

When students struggle, their academic performance declines. And that leads to lower test scores. Research shows that these declining scores are closely linked to reduced economic growth, as a less educated workforce hampers productivity and innovation.

The Mississippi approach

In 2013, Mississippi implemented a multifaceted strategy for enhancing kindergarten to third grade literacy. The Literacy-Based Promotion Act focuses on early literacy and teacher development. It includes teacher training in proven reading instruction methods and teacher coaching.

Relying on federally supported research from the Institute of Education Science, the state invested in phonics, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension. The law provided K-3 teachers with training and support to help students master reading by the end of third grade.

It includes provisions for reading coaches, parent communication, individual reading plans and other supportive measures. It also includes targeted support for struggling readers. Students repeat the third grade if they fail to meet reading standards.

The state also aligned its test to the NAEP, or National Assessment of Educational Progress, something which not all states do. Often referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card,” the NAEP is a nationwide assessment that measures student performance in various subjects.

Mississippi’s reforms have led to significant gains in reading and math, with fourth graders improving on national assessments.

I believe this is extremely important. That’s because early reading is a foundational skill that helps develop the ability to read at grade level by the end of third grade. It also leads to general academic success, graduating from high school prepared for college, and becoming productive adults less likely to fall into poverty.

Research by Noah Spencer, an economics doctoral student at the University of Toronto, shows that the Mississippi law boosted scores.

Students exposed to it from kindergarten to the third grade gained a 0.25 standard deviation improvement in reading scores. That is roughly equivalent to one year of academic progress in reading, according to educational benchmarks. This gain reflects significant strides in students’ literacy development over the course of a school year.

Another study has found an even greater impact attributed to grade retention in the third grade – it led to a huge increase in learning in English Language Arts by the sixth grade.

But the Mississippi law is not just about retention. Spencer found that grade retention explains only about 22% of the treatment effect. The rest is presumably due to the other components of the measure – namely, teacher training and coaching.

Other previous research supports these results across the country.

Adopting an early literacy policy improves elementary students’ reading achievement on important student assessments, with third grade retention and instructional support substantially enhancing English learners’ skills. The policy also increases test scores for students’ younger siblings, although it is not clear why.

Moreover, third grade retention programs immediately boost English Language Arts and math achievements into middle school without disciplinary incidents or negatively impacting student attendance.

These changes were achieved despite Mississippi being one of the lowest spenders per pupil in the U.S., proving that strategic investments in teacher development and early literacy can yield impressive results even with limited resources.

The global learning crisis

Mississippi’s success is timely. Millions of children globally struggle to read by age 10. It’s a crisis that has worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mississippi’s early literacy interventions show lasting impact and offer a potential solution for other regions facing similar challenges.

In 2024, only 31% of U.S. fourth grade students were proficient or above in reading, according to the NAEP, while 40% were below basic. Reading scores for fourth and eighth graders also dropped by five points compared with 2019, with averages lower than any year since 2005.

Mississippi’s literacy program provides a learning gain equal to a year of schooling. The program costs US$15 million annually – 0.2% of the state budget in 2023 – and $32 per student.

The learning gain associated with the Mississippi program is equal to about an extra quarter of a year. Since each year of schooling raises earnings by about 9%, then a quarter-year gain means that Mississippi students benefiting from the program will increase future earnings by 2.25% a year.

Based on typical high school graduate earnings, the average student can expect to earn an extra $1,000 per year for the rest of their life.

That is, for every dollar Mississippi spends, the state gains about $32 in additional lifetime earnings, offering substantial long-term economic benefits compared with the initial cost.

The Mississippi literacy project focuses on teaching at the right level, which focuses on assessing children’s actual learning levels and then tailoring instruction to meet them, rather than strictly following age- or grade-level curriculum.

Teaching at the right level and a scripted lessons plan are among the most effective strategies to address the global learning crisis. After the World Bank reviewed over 150 education programs in 2020, nearly half showed no learning benefit.

I believe Mississippi’s progress, despite being the second-poorest state, can serve as a wake-up call.

Harry Anthony Patrinos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Source: The Conversation