Wisconsin’s Failing Education System Should Look to…Mississippi?
Wisconsin students continue to face challenges in reading proficiency while posting some of the nation’s largest racial achievement gaps. Adopting key elements of Mississippi’s proven education reforms offers a clear path forward.
Wisconsin Students Lag in Reading Proficiency, Face Nation’s Largest Racial Achievement Gaps
Wisconsin fourth-grade students scored an average of 215 on the 2024 NAEP reading assessment, with just 31% performing at or above proficient. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is commonly regarded as the nation’s report card. Eighth-grade results are similarly stagnant. These outcomes place the state near the national average but reflect long-term decline or flatlining.
The racial achievement gaps are especially alarming: Black fourth graders in Wisconsin score 45 points lower than White students on NAEP, among the largest gaps in the country, with only 8% of Black students reaching proficiency. In Milwaukee Public Schools, the figure drops to around 5% proficient in reading. These disparities have persisted for decades despite Wisconsin’s above-average per-pupil spending.
Parents can’t fully trust the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) state assessments, either. Since 2024, DPI has altered cut scores and performance labels, breaking trend data and lowering the bar compared to the rigorous NAEP “nation’s report card.” This has fueled legitimate skepticism and calls for greater transparency.
Why Reform Was Needed and What Act 20 Actually Does
For years, Wisconsin relied heavily on ineffective “three-cueing” methods that encouraged guessing from pictures and context rather than teaching children to decode words. The result? Too many students reached fourth grade unable to “read to learn,” falling further behind with lifelong consequences including lower graduation rates, higher risks of unemployment, incarceration, and dependency.
The societal impacts of poor literacy are staggering. A survey by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce even revealed that 64% of employers have workers who struggle with basic reading skills. Another frequently cited study reveals that approximately 70% of incarcerated adults cannot read at or above a fourth-grade reading level.
The Right to Read Act, 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, marked a long-overdue shift. Modeled in part after successful reforms in states like Mississippi, Act 20 embraces the Science of Reading: an evidence-based approach grounded in systematic phonics, phonemic awareness, and explicit instruction.
Key provisions include:
• Prohibiting three-cueing practices in favor of phonics-based instruction
• Requiring science-based reading training for teacher preparation programs, licensure, and ongoing professional development for K-3 educators and principals
• Mandating universal literacy screening three times per year in K-3, early identification of struggling readers, and Personal Reading Plans with targeted interventions and parental involvement for students below the 25th percentile
• Establishing the Office of Literacy and a Council on Early Literacy to review curricula, plus funding for literacy coaches (prioritized for high-need schools) and grants for approved materials
These were bipartisan steps in the right direction. However, implementation faced significant hurdles, including a partial veto by Governor Tony Evers that delayed full funding for nearly two years until the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the vetoes and resources were included in the 2025-27 budget
Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act and Related Reforms
Mississippi provides a stronger blueprint. In 2013, the state enacted the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which included:
• Comprehensive science-of-reading training for K-3 teachers
• Trained reading coaches in struggling schools
• Universal early screening and interventions
• Ending social promotion: Third graders not reading proficiently are retained (with supports and limited exemptions), ensuring students master foundational skills before advancing
Mississippi paired these changes with higher standards and accountability. The results speak for themselves: Fourth-grade NAEP reading scores rose dramatically, moving the state from near the bottom nationally to competitive standings, with notable gains for Black and low-income students.
Application to Wisconsin: Build on Act 20 with Real Accountability
Wisconsin’s Act 20 took important first steps but stopped short of Mississippi’s most effective accountability tool: Mandatory retention for students who fail to meet reading benchmarks after intensive support. Instead, it settled for a compromise: promotion policies with interventions, summer programs, and “good cause” exemptions. DPI’s model policy has been notably lax, cautioning districts against retention, which means many schools will maintain the status quo.
This is a critical missed opportunity. Research and Mississippi’s experience show that retention, when paired with targeted support, gives struggling students the additional time they need rather than pushing them forward unprepared.
Wisconsin policymakers should strengthen Act 20 by:
• Fully aligning teacher training, curricula, and coaching to the Science of Reading with fidelity
• Implementing clearer, more rigorous standards that match NAEP benchmarks
• Enacting meaningful retention policies with robust supports (as Mississippi did) to end social promotion
• Increasing pressure on public universities to improve their teacher preparation programs
Wisconsin spends more per pupil than many states yet delivers lagging results and persistent gaps; by learning from Mississippi’s comprehensive, evidence-based, and accountability-focused model, while building on the foundation of Act 20, it can deliver better outcomes for all students, especially those furthest behind. Wisconsin can deliver better outcomes for all students, especially those furthest behind. The evidence is clear: Early, systematic literacy instruction works when paired with real support and real consequences.
