"Every once in a while, a state or city discovers a new and better way to educate poor children. Inevitably, a group of skeptics arises to insist that this new way doesn't work, that even attempting to shrink the gap between rich and poor students is a fool's errand. Strangely enough, these skeptics tend, with increasing frequency, to reside on the political left."
"Once synonymous with terrible education, the state incorporated a set of educational reforms including teacher training, testing, retention (i.e., whether kids move forward or are held back), and a mostly phonics-based reading instruction, unlike the ineffective but popular "whole language" model that prevailed at the time. In a mere 10 years, the state's fourth-grade reading scores rose from 49th place, in 2013, to the top 20, in 2023."
States and cities sometimes discover improved methods for educating poor children, prompting skeptical responses. Many skeptics increasingly come from the political left. Mississippi implemented reforms including teacher training, testing, retention policies, and a mostly phonics-based reading curriculum to replace whole-language approaches. Over ten years, fourth-grade reading scores climbed from 49th in 2013 to the top 20 in 2023. Adjusted for race and income, Mississippi now teaches literacy better than many northern states. Maryland hired Mississippi's superintendent Carey Wright in 2023. Education reform divides Democrats between moderates who favor incentives, tracking, and charters and progressives who distrust performance-focused reforms while poverty and inequality persist.
Read at The Atlantic
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