Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves detailed how conservative education reform led his state school system to achieve some of the best results in the country.
The 2023 Associated Press called the state’s surge test score for the fourth-graders “Mississippi Miracle.” explanation“Mississippi was ranked 21st in 2022 for fourth-grade readings in 2013.”
The 2024 Educational Advancement (NAEP) Report Card National Assessment (NAEP) shows that Mississippi leads the country with demographically adjusted fourth and eighth grade scores, going viral on social media.
Mississippi has the highest demographically adjusted NAEP (4th and 8th grade) scores
“The Mississippi Miracle” began in 2012 when the Republican governor/Congress introduced phonics-based instruction and began to hold back ~10% of the yearly third-year students who failed reading tests. pic.twitter.com/bytlxepzrd
– Arjun Panickssery (@panickssery) April 7, 2025
The charts also attracted the attention of Vice President JD Vance. “This is extremely incredible. Smart Education Reform has significantly improved schools in Mississippi,” JDVance said.
“It’s really amazing, and that’s something I’m extremely proud of, and even Vice President Vance has started tweeting about once or twice, so that’s kind of funny,” Reeves told the caller.
This is pretty amazing. Smart Education Reform has significantly improved schools in Mississippi. https://t.co/hkjqouo2s4
– jd vance (@jdvance) April 8, 2025
Reeves believes he will get “back to basics” because of his state’s rising educational achievements. In 2013, while Reeves was lieutenant governor, Mississippi passed the Sweep Education Reform Act, including the “Third Grade Reading Gate,” requiring that children who fail to meet certain reading standards by the end of third grade should be curbed. In reading education, the state reintroduced phonics, which teaches students to listen to the words, spending $15 million a year reading coaches. (Related: “Clearly illegal”: Red States Sue Biden Admin bear New Title IX Rules)
Percentage of students who both failed tests and were prevented from moving forward into third grade Reduction From 9% in 2019 to 6.5% in 2023.
“The other side went crazy… they said, ‘Well, we’ll have to hold back half of our students,'” Reeves recalls. “No, we’ve raised our expectations. Mississippi did what the Mississippi people do. They got up and raised those expectations.”
Reeves said the state has been increasing its cutoffs for third-year students to advance from third-year to fourth-graders over the past decade, and reading levels continue to improve. Using the reading model, Mississippi implemented similar standards in its mathematics program, hiring career coaches and assisting students who were unable to attend college in their early career development.
“The outcome speaks to itself,” Reeves argued.
Demographically adjusted NAEP scores compare students from similar demographic and income groups with students from the same group of states.
“These reforms work for all of our children and our areas as well as for all of our children. Look at African American fourth graders compared to their peers. In 2013, they were the 45th best in the nation.
Mississippi Hispanic students rank third in the country and the first in the nation for mathematics. (Related: School District Learning Loss has become greater in School Districts that remained far away, Research Show)
“By the way, high school graduation rates during this period have risen since 72% of children graduated from high school, and 89.9% of children have graduated from high school last year,” added Reeves.
In addition to the new testing requirements, Mississippi has also added a new charter school, creating an Educational Savings Account (ESA) program for parents of children with disabilities, putting children in programs designed to meet their needs, and following Florida by offering letter assessments to public schools.
“That’s not a miracle,” the governor insisted. “It’s really the result of conservative reforms implemented in public education. They’re making a huge difference for kids.”
