I recently heard Charlie Kirk mention the 'Mississippi Miracle' with regard to education, specifically reading. I just assumed their schools were still terrible, but it turns out, returning to common sense and neglecting the demands of teacher's unions actually helps kids.

You can read about it here: https://apnews.com/article/reading-scores-phonics-mississippi-alabama-louisiana-5bdd5d6ff719b23faa37db2fb95d5004

Summary: Miss has been one of, if not the lowest ranked educational systems in the country. Many blamed it on demographics. but about 10 years ago, they changed their system, and now are ranked around 20th in education (#2 when adjusted for demographics...but that's a longer discussion).

They simply re-introduced phonics, and stopped 'failing kids forward'. The schools now have several benchmarks to measure the kids in grades 1 & 2, and are assessed for proficiency in 3rd grade. If the kids cannot meet the scores, they are held back. No more passing them through for 'feels'. The State provides several tutoring and summer options to help them along if needed, but they remain in 3rd until they are ready for the next step. Teachers unions pushed back on this, but look silly in hindsight.

In other words, they're now focused on the actual proficiency of the kids, and not on benchmarks for the schools. They've gone back to the way it used to be, and are seeing giant strides. Several other States are modeling this (Bama and Louisiana have seen large gains also).

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Still, evidence suggests these states have made promising gains for low-income kids in particular. In 2019, Alabama ranked 49th in NAEP reading scores for low-income fourth-graders; in 2022, it ranked 27th. Amid the pandemic that saw most states lose ground, Louisiana soared from 42nd to 11th. Mississippi ranks second-highest in the country, after Florida.

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I hope to see more of this across the country.

Hell yeah.

Imagine that. Going back to basics and common sense works.

It's very cool, because all we hear about, is how our educational system lacks behind other countries.

But we know how to educate kids. We just have to actually do it, and the delta is erased.

Mississippi, of all places, have proven this, and others are following.

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They simply re-introduced phonics, and stopped 'failing kids forward'. The schools now have several benchmarks to measure the kids in grades 1 & 2, and are assessed for proficiency in 3rd grade. If the kids cannot meet the scores, they are held back. No more passing them through for 'feels'. The State provides several tutoring and summer options to help them along if needed, but they remain in 3rd until they are ready for the next step.

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This. So.Much.This.

So in Mississippi, Heather as a Mommy and a Daddy. Works for me.

Many people are starting to realize Phonics is how you teach reading and are going back to it. They never should have left but Big Education convinced them to buy their systems.

If you're trying to sell something, the most common approach is to convince the prospective buyer that it's different than what they currently have. The "education" industry has become big business, oftentimes much to the detriment of the student.

This can't be right! We all know that simply spending more money on administrators and teaching kids to ask for pronouns is the key to education! What is this reading, writing, and math stuff?!!?

aggie93 said:

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This can't be right! We all know that simply spending more money on administrators and teaching kids to ask for pronouns is the key to education! What is this reading, writing, and math stuff?!!?

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dont forget that you need a minimum of 30% of every school be children of immigrants.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Many people are starting to realize Phonics is how you teach reading and are going back to it. They never should have left but Big Education convinced them to buy their systems.

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Yep, and it was a big lie. Phonics was the tried and true method for teaching reading for decades until academia decided they knew better and started using the whole language model.

It's like Reagan used to say, "The trouble with our liberal friends isn't that they're ignorant, it's that they know so much that isn't so."

What I find bizarre is that we've always used phonics with dyslexic students. It's the best way to help them cope with their differences.

My wife and I are both educators, and I asked her who is validating what Big Education is pushing (it sounds dumb, I know). I don't think most districts are investigating what is being sold to them, and it can be hard for those who do because so many academic papers are not peer-reviewed or checked to make sure the data is real or not.

We've overcomplicated teaching so that new platforms and such can be used to try and improve educational outcomes in poor-performing areas. Nothing will do that except community support and expectations.

I think the people who made the switch had good intentions but they didn't investigate what was being sold.

Great article. Thanks

I look forward to the days that our "exit tests" are simply life needed skills.

What is the area of this room? Can you fit a couch and end tables with the following dimensions? If you wanted to put tile on the floor and the work costs $3k and the material is $5 per sq ft, how much money would the job cost?

Get the to pass a US citizens test.

Read these two news articles. What is the same? What is different? Write a brief essay on why you think one is better than the other.

75-80% of the kids leaving high school don't need to know how to plot a graph. They definitely don't need to be tested on Algebra 2. They don't need to know how to calculate volume of different shapes. My wife went to school in Virginia and they had to take a test called the SOLs. It was jokingly referred to as "If you can't pass this, you are **** outta luck". That is the type of testing we need to get back to.

Can you function as a person out in the real world? Are you going to be taken advantage of by others? Can you read and write to communicate effectively (although with AI, who knows what will be "needed" in 5-10 years).

Sold A Story is a great podcast about the shortsighted abandonment of phonics

Teaching basics in school

instead of Indoctrination.

Who da thunk it.

Rapier108 said:

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You do know this is the MAGA way, right?

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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I think the people who made the switch had good intentions but they didn't investigate what was being sold.

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You may well be correct, but in my book that was all the more reason to tread carefully and be prepared to pivot quickly. It is borderline negligence in my book on the part of educators that it was adopted for so long when it was apparent within a few years that it just didn't work. There is a generation of students that are now adults that struggle with reading, writing, and spelling because of it, and they don't get a second chance at doing it over.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Many people are starting to realize Phonics is how you teach reading and are going back to it. They never should have left but Big Education convinced them to buy their systems.

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But a PhD in education who had never taught in their life told them "whole language" was the way to go…….

People are shocked at what happens when you inject some merit into education instead of diplomas for all. Kids generally rise or fall to the level of expectation. That will forever be true.

AgGrad99 said:

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I recently heard Charlie Kirk mention the 'Mississippi Miracle' with regard to education, specifically reading. I just assumed their schools were still terrible, but it turns out, returning to common sense and neglecting the demands of teacher's unions actually helps kids.

You can read about it here: https://apnews.com/article/reading-scores-phonics-mississippi-alabama-louisiana-5bdd5d6ff719b23faa37db2fb95d5004

Summary: Miss has been one of, if not the lowest ranked educational systems in the country. Many blamed it on demographics. but about 10 years ago, they changed their system, and now are ranked around 20th in education (#2 when adjusted for demographics...but that's a longer discussion).

They simply re-introduced phonics, and stopped 'failing kids forward'. The schools now have several benchmarks to measure the kids in grades 1 & 2, and are assessed for proficiency in 3rd grade. If the kids cannot meet the scores, they are held back. No more passing them through for 'feels'. The State provides several tutoring and summer options to help them along if needed, but they remain in 3rd until they are ready for the next step. Teachers unions pushed back on this, but look silly in hindsight.

In other words, they're now focused on the actual proficiency of the kids, and not on benchmarks for the schools. They've gone back to the way it used to be, and are seeing giant strides. Several other States are modeling this (Bama and Louisiana have seen large gains also).

Quote:

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Still, evidence suggests these states have made promising gains for low-income kids in particular. In 2019, Alabama ranked 49th in NAEP reading scores for low-income fourth-graders; in 2022, it ranked 27th. Amid the pandemic that saw most states lose ground, Louisiana soared from 42nd to 11th. Mississippi ranks second-highest in the country, after Florida.

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I hope to see more of this across the country.

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Individual accountability is the key. Holding schools and districts accountable just results in cries for more funding. Tell a parent that if a kid fails the 3rd grade proficiency for a third time, they will get put in special ed, you might get some real results.

Great article! I hope more states focus on the reading proficiency of kids and not benchmarks for the schools.

lb3 said:

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AgGrad99 said:

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I recently heard Charlie Kirk mention the 'Mississippi Miracle' with regard to education, specifically reading. I just assumed their schools were still terrible, but it turns out, returning to common sense and neglecting the demands of teacher's unions actually helps kids.

You can read about it here: https://apnews.com/article/reading-scores-phonics-mississippi-alabama-louisiana-5bdd5d6ff719b23faa37db2fb95d5004

Summary: Miss has been one of, if not the lowest ranked educational systems in the country. Many blamed it on demographics. but about 10 years ago, they changed their system, and now are ranked around 20th in education (#2 when adjusted for demographics...but that's a longer discussion).

They simply re-introduced phonics, and stopped 'failing kids forward'. The schools now have several benchmarks to measure the kids in grades 1 & 2, and are assessed for proficiency in 3rd grade. If the kids cannot meet the scores, they are held back. No more passing them through for 'feels'. The State provides several tutoring and summer options to help them along if needed, but they remain in 3rd until they are ready for the next step. Teachers unions pushed back on this, but look silly in hindsight.

In other words, they're now focused on the actual proficiency of the kids, and not on benchmarks for the schools. They've gone back to the way it used to be, and are seeing giant strides. Several other States are modeling this (Bama and Louisiana have seen large gains also).

Quote:

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Still, evidence suggests these states have made promising gains for low-income kids in particular. In 2019, Alabama ranked 49th in NAEP reading scores for low-income fourth-graders; in 2022, it ranked 27th. Amid the pandemic that saw most states lose ground, Louisiana soared from 42nd to 11th. Mississippi ranks second-highest in the country, after Florida.

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I hope to see more of this across the country.

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Individual accountability is the key. Holding schools and districts accountable just results in cries for more funding. Tell a parent that if a kid fails the 3rd grade proficiency for a third time, they will get put in special ed, you might get some real results.

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SPED classification actually opens up the door to more handouts for college tuition and accommodations. Parents already actively try and get their kids classified for these advantages. You don't want to offer it.

I was an educator for 21 years mostly in private schools.

The "new" crap they try to sell administrations on is ongoing. When I worked for good administrations that knew education and knew what worked, our schools thrived.

When I worked for administrations that had no educational compass, we were hit with new fads all of the time.

I'm a firm believer in the classical model of education and think most kids would thrive in this model. Teach kids to think, teach kids critical thought, teach kids the appropriate material at the appropriate development levels.

AND: Less is more! Stop trying to teach EVERYTHING and teach fundamentals. Everything else takes care of itself.

This is how you make Change

It's really encouraging. Parents need to be armed with this kind of information. Then use facts to counter the ideology-driven foolishness that we seem to hear too often from our "professional educators."

Geez this only worked for 100 years and then we decided to teach more about global warming and recycling than how to read and write.

fightingfarmer09 said:

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lb3 said:

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AgGrad99 said:

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I recently heard Charlie Kirk mention the 'Mississippi Miracle' with regard to education, specifically reading. I just assumed their schools were still terrible, but it turns out, returning to common sense and neglecting the demands of teacher's unions actually helps kids.

You can read about it here: https://apnews.com/article/reading-scores-phonics-mississippi-alabama-louisiana-5bdd5d6ff719b23faa37db2fb95d5004

Summary: Miss has been one of, if not the lowest ranked educational systems in the country. Many blamed it on demographics. but about 10 years ago, they changed their system, and now are ranked around 20th in education (#2 when adjusted for demographics...but that's a longer discussion).

They simply re-introduced phonics, and stopped 'failing kids forward'. The schools now have several benchmarks to measure the kids in grades 1 & 2, and are assessed for proficiency in 3rd grade. If the kids cannot meet the scores, they are held back. No more passing them through for 'feels'. The State provides several tutoring and summer options to help them along if needed, but they remain in 3rd until they are ready for the next step. Teachers unions pushed back on this, but look silly in hindsight.

In other words, they're now focused on the actual proficiency of the kids, and not on benchmarks for the schools. They've gone back to the way it used to be, and are seeing giant strides. Several other States are modeling this (Bama and Louisiana have seen large gains also).

Quote:

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Still, evidence suggests these states have made promising gains for low-income kids in particular. In 2019, Alabama ranked 49th in NAEP reading scores for low-income fourth-graders; in 2022, it ranked 27th. Amid the pandemic that saw most states lose ground, Louisiana soared from 42nd to 11th. Mississippi ranks second-highest in the country, after Florida.

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I hope to see more of this across the country.

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Individual accountability is the key. Holding schools and districts accountable just results in cries for more funding. Tell a parent that if a kid fails the 3rd grade proficiency for a third time, they will get put in special ed, you might get some real results.

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SPED classification actually opens up the door to more handouts for college tuition and accommodations. Parents already actively try and get their kids classified for these advantages. You don't want to offer it.

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I also don't want 15 year olds in 3rd grade. What do you do with the kids that continually fail when social promotion is no longer an option?

That's a good question, and one that needs to be answered. But we can't design our education system based on extreme rarities. I'm not sure what we used to do.

Maybe they need to be in a SPED program, if they're 15 and simply cannot learn to read on a 3rd grade level. Definitely something that needs to be addressed, but I doubt it'll be a wide-sweeping issue.

Wait … what? You mean giving kids social promotions doesn't get better results ? Who knew?