Lessons from Mississippi on improving literacy?

The Albuquerque Journal will hopefully include some follow-up on its recent report on literacy which left out ANY realistic discussion of the school system in New Mexico.

But, at the Rio Grande Foundation we are serious about finding ways to improve educational outcomes and a state that many New Mexicans use to say New Mexico is NOT at the “bottom of the barrel” is Mississippi. Well, as it would happen, Mississippi is leaving New Mexico in the dust when it comes to arguably the most important literacy measure, 4th grade reading scores. You can see the comparison of NAEP scores for the two states below:

What is happening to dramatically improve outcomes in Mississippi schools? For starters they are focusing on it, but this article which discusses the fact that North Carolina is considering adopting reforms from Mississippi provides evidence that Mississippi’s success is turning some heads.

Finally, here are the details on Mississippi’s “LETR’s” system of reading education.