Key Takeaway: New review uses Progressive Policy Institute report as starting point to try to better understand the impact of literacy reforms and other factors that may have influenced the state's NAEP fourth-grade reading scores.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (JULY 14, 2026)
- The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) recently published a report offering an insider account of how Mississippi's K–3 education system has evolved over roughly two decades.
In his review of Inside the Mississippi Marathon, Gregory Camilli, professor emeritus at Rutgers University, focuses on just a slice of the report: its description of the state's performance in fourth-grade reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The state's improvement on that exam has been called the "Mississippi Miracle." The PPI report rejects that characterization, opting instead to use a "marathon" metaphor.
While confirming the state's improved performance on the fourth-grade NAEP (mathematics, as well as reading), Camilli finds that the report overstates the role of the state's literacy reforms. He explains that insufficient attention has been given to other factors that may have contributed to rising scores. In particular, he explores how extensive third-grade test preparation may have influenced NAEP results.
Camilli concludes that the PPI report may understate the effect on NAEP performance of the state's "substantial increase in the frequency of both formative and high-stakes assessment in reading and mathematics as well as increasing the alignment of the state assessment to NAEP."
Find the review, written by Gregory Camilli, at:
https://www.greatlakescenter.org
Find Inside the Mississippi Marathon, written by Rachel Canter and published by the Progressive Policy Institute, at: https://www.progressivepolicy.org/inside-the-mississippi-marathon/
NEPC Reviews (https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: https://www.greatlakescenter.org.
