Mississippi’s Reading Turnaround Holds Lessons for Oregon

This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project , a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.

Earlier this year, the National Assessment of Educational Progress released its annual report card, including reading scores for fourth graders across the country.

Reading scores at fourth grade are considered a vital bellwether for a student’s educational progress.

Adjusted for demographics, Oregon landed 50th—at the very bottom. Mississippi, a state some Oregonians like to deride as backward, scored at the very top.

Mississippi is a state burdened by deep poverty, tightfisted public spending, and a punishing legacy of segregation. It spends $13,461 per student a year, $6,000 less than Oregon. And yet, test scores show, students across the board in Mississippi are learning to read