Mississippi Reading Reforms Become National Model
Mississippi parents can see how the state climbed from 49th to the top ten in fourth-grade reading.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Secondary Education
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Governor Tate Reeves and former state education chief Dr. Carey Wright have contributed a chapter on the Mississippi Miracle to the book Do What Works, edited by Results for America co-founders Michele Jolin and David Medina. The book is slated to be featured at bipartisan events at the Obama and George W. Bush presidential centers this fall, for families across Mississippi following the state's reading gains.
Why it matters
Mississippi went from 49th in the nation in fourth-grade reading to a top-ten state, a shift that bears directly on what children in Mississippi homes are learning and how well they read by the end of elementary school. The chapter frames the state's policy changes as a research-based model that other states are now studying.
Mississippi ranked 49th nationally in fourth-grade reading before the reforms and ranked first in reading gains on the 2019 NAEP. Dr. Carey Wright, who set six main goals for the Mississippi Department of Education, now runs Maryland's public schools.
The players
Governor Tate Reeves
Mississippi's governor, who outlined the state's education reform work in the Legislature while serving as Lieutenant Governor.
Dr. Carey Wright
Former head of the Mississippi Department of Education, who set six main goals for the state's schools and now runs Maryland's public schools.
Results for America
A nonprofit that promotes evidence-based policymaking, whose co-founders Michele Jolin and David Medina edited Do What Works.
The details
Reeves outlined the reform work in the Legislature while serving as Lieutenant Governor, and the policy changes that followed were built on a research-based approach to improving reading and overall student achievement. Wright's six main goals guided the Mississippi Department of Education's effort to lift results. The chapter presents this approach as a template that other states and cities can adapt.
Timeline
Mississippi's education reforms began more than a decade before the article was published.
Mississippi ranked first in the nation in reading gains on the 2019 NAEP scores.
The book is expected to be featured at bipartisan events at presidential centers in fall 2026.
The Home Front
The Mississippi Miracle is now being presented as a national template for raising early reading performance through research-based policy. Families in Mississippi are seeing the state's rise in fourth-grade reading rankings become part of the public record.
If you have a child in a Mississippi public school, ask their teacher how reading is taught and what fourth-grade reading benchmarks they are tracking this year. Keep the school's reading progress reports on file so you can compare your child's growth over time.
The takeaway
Reading gains are built on a steady, research-based approach that families can see in their child's school year by year. Ask your child's school which reading benchmarks it uses, and keep those results on file to track progress.
What happens next
The book will be featured at bipartisan events at the Obama Presidential Center and the George W. Bush Presidential Center this fall.
Further reading
For more on how states are reshaping classroom outcomes, explore Secondary Education coverage across the state.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Delta Democrat-Times.
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