Lessons from Mississippi show impact of K-3 Reading Policy on student achievement

Tuesday Dr. Carey Wright, State Superintendent of Education for Mississippi, and Dr. Kymymona Burk, Policy Director for Early Literacy at ExcelinEd testified before a joint meeting of the House and Senate Education Committees.

Their presentations outlined how Mississippi implemented PK-3 reading policy that lifted Mississippi’s scores from the lowest in the country as recently as 2013 to being the No. 2 state in the nation with greatest improvements for three years in a row. Their presentations reaffirmed Alaska’s Education Challenge and our shared call to action to address our public education system through five measurable goals – the first being to support all students to read at grade level by the end of third grade.  

SB 8 introduced by Sen. Tom Begich and SB 111 introduced by the Senate Education Committee shares several of the core components of the policies adopted in Mississippi.

A video recording of the presentation is available here. You can download the PowerPoint presentations here.