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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rapid educational improvement in the US

This article is about the period of the rapid growth in student academic success in the U.S. state. For the college football game, see 2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game.

Mississippi Department of Education<br>The Mississippi Miracle is the rapid improvement of K–12 student performance in Mississippi since 2013, widely attributed to a series of policy, curriculum, and pedagogical changes initiated at the state level. The term can also be used to generally refer to improvements in student test scores in other southern states that implemented similar changes, which has also been dubbed the "Southern surge".[1] The positive changes followed decades of low academic performance in the state and likely helped minimize some of the negative educational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mississippi students were performing a full grade level below their peers around the country as recently as 2013, but by 2024, they were performing nearly half a grade level above the average U.S. student.[2] The Miracle has been accredited to various causes working together, principally driven in Mississippi by the Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA)[3] and in other states by similar forces and trends.[4][5]

Background<br>[edit]

Mississippi has been the poorest state in the United States for decades, and by a significant margin. It has the highest percentage of Americans living in poverty, and places last or nearly last on a host of measures, to the point that the satirical phrase "Thank God for Mississippi" exists in other low-performing states, since Mississippi usually spares them the shame of being last.

Education was no exception; in 2013, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) ranked Mississippi in 49th place nationally for fourth-grade literacy, with the average fourth-grade student receiving a reading score of 209, considerably lower than the national average of 221[6]. Seeing this, Mississippi attempted to tackle the problem with the Literacy-Based Promotion Act,[7] a bill introduced to improve students' reading skills "so that every student completing third grade reads at or above grade level".[8] The bill was sponsored by 7 Republicans and 1 Democrat. The bill garnered support from both parties, including all but 2 Republicans and 14 Democrats in the House. It passed both houses of the Mississippi Legislature by wide margins, having passed the Senate 51–0, and the House 113–5–2.[9] It was then signed into law by Governor Phil Bryant on April 18, 2013.

Similar circumstances inspired Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas, among other states, to tackle their own struggling education systems.

Literacy-Based Promotion Act<br>[edit]

Mississippi's LBPA contained four different fundamental provisions meant to ensure student success.[10]

Support for teachers<br>[edit]

Mississippi's classroom teachers were not expected to change the trajectory of their students alone. Instead, money was devoted to hiring highly trained reading coaches to support students, as well as special literacy-based professional development for all teachers.[10] This embrace of phonics education and the near-complete rejection of whole language theory was a key component of the program's success.[11]

Early detection of literacy problems<br>[edit]

Schools began to screen students at a young age for issues in literacy so that they would be able to have access to specialized services that would help them catch up and achieve mastery. Tests are given three times annually from kindergarten through third grade, and students who show a lack of proficiency receive support corresponding to their needs.

Supporting struggling readers<br>[edit]

Schools were given direction on how to best address the needs and gaps detected by all this testing. Each struggling child receives an Individualized Reading Plan, which is crafted by a joint effort of parents and teachers. Parent involvement was and is vital for student mastery of reading.

Mandatory retention of students who do not pass a 3rd-grade reading test<br>[edit]

Students in 3rd grade are given multiple opportunities to pass a reading test, often known as the "third-grade gate". Students who repeatedly earn less than a passing grade on the test are retained and do not proceed to fourth grade, instead being assigned to a teacher with expertise in helping struggling readers. While precise figures are hard to come by, it is estimated that roughly 6.5% of Mississippi third-graders were held back in 2023, with the vast majority of these students having failed to pass the reading test.[12] This was a lower proportion of students than were held back in previous years.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said of introducing mandatory...