Authored by Dr. Shannon Eldridge, Academic Specialist for High Schools, DeSoto County Schools
Across Mississippi, educators are asking an important question: What can we do for the students who missed the “Mississippi Miracle”? Mississippi recently garnered national attention with significant gains in reading largely as a result of the 2013 Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which mandates early intervention, a phonics-based reading curriculum, and the retention of third-grade students who do not demonstrate proficiency on state assessments.
As exciting as this news is for educators and policymakers everywhere, teachers of older students have been scratching their heads. As with any major policy shift, it takes time to begin to see the results Mississippi is seeing. Despite our best efforts, the students who did not benefit from early intervention and phonics-based instruction are still struggling to read proficiently. Until now, upper elementary and secondary teachers have had a difficult time overcoming the challenges this presents with little success. The passage of Mississippi Senate Bill 2294 is meant to change this.
This legislation, focused on grades 4-8, continues many of the research-based practices from the 2013 legislation that are believed to have positively impacted student achievement. Most notably, the new policy explicitly states that intervention includes foundational reading skills when appropriate, even for older learners. In addition, Senate Bill 2294 reinforces a growing recognition that explicit, systematic literacy instruction is essential to long-term student success and reflects an understanding that lasting improvements in reading achievement require a sustained commitment to proven instructional practices.
So what can this look like for schools? DeSoto County began this journey over 10 years ago. We knew that as students progressed to more complex text with more unfamiliar, multisyllabic words, students’ comprehension and overall fluency declined. Recognizing that our students lacked phonological and word recognition skills, we began our search for an age-appropriate approach to tackle this problem. Moreover, we knew that our students continued to need support in Language Comprehension skills. Luckily, this search eventually led us to Reading Horizons.
Elevate is an evidence-based, structured literacy intervention for readers in fourth grade and beyond. It is a highly adaptable program designed to meet the individual needs of students. This adaptability is what makes it so powerful. It ensures that we are doing more than simply recognizing the problem. We are taking intentional, student-centered action to address the specific barriers preventing struggling readers from achieving success. Not only does Reading Horizons provide us with the methods and resources to address the skill deficits many older readers experience, but the dedicated implementation support and training methods have allowed us to expand its reach over time and adapt to the unique school and classroom situations throughout our district.
At first, the task before us seemed insurmountable. Desoto County is the largest school district in Mississippi, so any initiative requires careful planning. We worked closely with our implementation team to establish a system for identifying students who required additional support and intervention. Because most secondary teachers are unfamiliar with foundational reading instruction, the team helped educate our secondary teachers and administrators on the Science of Reading so that teachers would feel as confident as possible using the resources.
The software, which can be used independently to reinforce direct instruction, includes a diagnostic and a Lexile measure to provide us with valuable data to target students’ needs. The decodable texts, reading library, and other resources give students multiple opportunities to transfer the learning to a variety of texts, thereby improving comprehension. This flexibility allows us to meet the needs of all learners and adapt to the needs of the teacher and classroom.
Districts in Mississippi face significant challenges as the focus shifts to older readers. There is a tendency to act hastily when policy changes of this magnitude are introduced, but we cannot afford to panic. The reading issues adolescent readers face require accurate screening and diagnostic measures, intensive training and support, and resources that meet the unique needs of upper elementary and middle school readers. Luckily, Reading Horizons is rooted in the explicit, systematic, evidence-based instruction required by SB 2294. As a result of this work, we have seen our students become more fluent, more confident readers. In addition to the growth for our students who are designated as low performing, students have made tremendous gains in Lexile growth. A group of high school students grew by an average of over 300 Lexile points in a single semester of daily intensive intervention. As a result of these efforts, our teachers are also more equipped to address the word recognition gaps of our students and to support the reading of complex texts.
This is happening in other Mississippi districts. Tupelo School District, located in Northeast Mississippi, has implemented a Reading Horizons intervention program for its fourth and fifth grade students receiving Tier III intervention. They are seeing similar gains in Lexile growth and district benchmarks.
This progressive policy will most certainly lead other districts to search for solutions that will address the unique needs of below-benchmark adolescent readers. However, I hope everyone understands that these are not changes that are made overnight. It will require a sustainable approach with the tools and methods needed to fill both the word recognition and language comprehension skill gaps often seen at this level.
Ultimately, improving outcomes for our students is not about finding a quick fix but committing to a long-term investment in literacy. When educators, leaders, and communities work together to provide evidence-based, explicit instruction and targeted support, struggling readers can become confident, capable learners. The path forward may be challenging, but this is the time to give our students a pathway to a future that might not be available otherwise.
