Mississippi credits phonics, testing and coaching for reading gains

Mississippi has moved from a low-ranked education system in 2013 to a top-10 state for fourth-grade reading and is now regarded as one of the best places for a poor child to get an education, a turnaround some have called the "Mississippi miracle." State officials changed reading instruction in 2013, embracing the "science of reading" with phonics and other direct methods and explicit vocabulary teaching.

At the same time the state raised academic standards, began issuing school letter grades, approved a list of curricula used by most districts and emphasized student growth toward proficiency, giving double credit for improvement among lowest-scoring pupils. The state also sends literacy coaches into elementary schools with the lowest reading scores to mentor teachers rather than supervise them, a strategy that teachers reportedly welcomed.

A Times reporter visited an elementary school in Hazlehurst, a rural area south of Jackson where more than half of children live in poverty, and found students taking tests every two weeks and classrooms where preschoolers and second graders were practicing sounding out words; one 10-year-old described progress as being "like a staircase." Mississippi’s approach has drawn both admiration and skepticism, with critics pointing to the role of standardized testing.

Key Topics

Politics, Mississippi, Phonics, Carey Wright, Hazlehurst, Literacy Coaches