OXFORD, Miss. — Leaders who helped write and carry out Mississippi’s 2013 reading law gathered at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Tuesday to look back at how the state went from near the bottom to the top 10 in fourth-grade reading.
The three-hour Mississippi Literacy Summit at the Inn at Ole Miss was organized by Ole Miss and its Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction. Speakers included Phil Bryant, the former governor whose signature made the Literacy-Based Promotion Act law in April 2013, along with Laurie Todd-Smith, who advised him on education at the time, center director Angela Rutherford, lawmakers and business leaders.
On the federal reading exam given to fourth graders nationwide, Mississippi sat 49th in the country in 2013. By 2024 it had moved up to ninth, and when student demographics are taken into account the state ranked first, according to figures shown at the summit.
The law says third graders must pass a reading test at the end of the year to move on to fourth grade. Later changes require reading plans for struggling K-3 students. Rutherford told the crowd the law is really about holding the adults accountable, with students screened several times a year so schools can step in early and families are told.
The state also changed what new teachers must learn to get licensed, adding classes on the science of reading, and sent literacy coaches into schools to work with teachers already on the job.
Todd-Smith said three of every four fourth graders in Mississippi come from low-income homes. She said 46 of every 100 children passed the state reading test when Bryant took office, compared with 85 of 100 passing on the first try last year.
A local student opened the event. Jake Riddle, a Lafayette third grader, read aloud from a picture book about the Apollo 11 moon flight while Bryant sat beside him. Bryant said Mississippi should keep pushing to have the nation’s best schools, and lawmakers have since added similar rules for eighth-grade reading and math.
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