State leaders reflect on Mississippi Miracle at Ole Miss summit

State leaders reflect on Mississippi. State leaders reflect on Mississippi Miracle at Ole Miss summit.

Key points

• Wilkinson County School District, Holmes Consolidated School District and the Noxubee County School District lately provided updates to the State Board of Education.
• The symbolism was clear: Just as Apollo 11 introduced three men toward the moon with no turning back, Mississippi embarked on an ambitious literacy effort in 2013.
• As of December 31, the SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy in Canton will cease operations.
• The Ole Miss Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction brings together policy, education and business leaders.
• State and Ole Miss are now contracted until September of 2030.

Laurie Todd-Smith (right), a former senior policy adviser to former Gov. Phil Bryant, reflects with him regarding the Literacy-Based Promotion Act during the Mississippi Literacy Summit at the University of Mississippi. Bryant signed the act on April 17, 2013. (Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services).

For context, the Ole Miss Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction brings together policy, education and business leaders.

Sitting on a University of Mississippi stage beside former Gov. Phil Bryant, Lafayette Upper Elementary School third grader Jake Riddle read the picture book "Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11" to an eager crowd of educators and educational leaders on Tuesday (Oct. 27).

Meanwhile, the symbolism was clear: Just as Apollo 11 introduced three men toward the moon with no turning back, Mississippi embarked on an ambitious literacy effort in 2013. It transformed the state from 49th nationally in fourth-grade reading achievement to ninth in 2024.

"We could have crashed into the surface, and they could have never passed the bill, " remarked Bryant, who championed the measure. "You may have to put everything on the line for that moon shot, and that is a motivator."

For context, the state's literacy journey, and the passage of the Literacy-Based Promotion Act in 2013, was the focus of the Mississippi Literacy Summit, hosted by the university's Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction.

Notably, the event additionally featured former senior policy adviser Laurie Todd-Smith, CELI director Angela Rutherford, lawmakers, and business and education leaders who assisted shape and enact the legislation.

Lawmakers lately implemented similar measures for eighth-grade reading and math. Mississippi should continue striving to operate the nation's top-performing education system, Bryant remarked.

"I always applied to say it would be really great to have a Top 10 football team, and we knew concerning that for a while, but it's more significant to have a Top 10 educational system, and I'd like to be No. 1, " Bryant remarked. "And until we create it to No. 1, we have obtained to keep working on it."

Notably, the 2013 law requires third grade students to pass a year-end reading assessment to be promoted to fourth grade. Amendments require K-3 students to have individualized reading intends if testing identifies them as struggling readers.

I often say the Literacy-Based Promotion Act is really about holding adults accountable, Rutherford remarked. There should never be a surprise at the end of third grade.

"If students are identified as struggling readers, schools are required to intervene, create an individual reading plan, notify families and provide backing. Students are screened multiple times each year so progress can be monitored and interventions adjusted as needed."

As education authorities additionally strengthened teacher development standards, the law did not stand alone.

Meanwhile, the state changed its teacher preparation licensure requirements, adding coursework on the science of reading. It teaches new educators how the human brain learns to read. For teachers already in the classroom, the Mississippi Department of Education provided literacy coaches and professional learning opportunities.

The summit highlights that there wasn't one single solution, Rutherford remarked. The Literacy-Based Promotion Act was significant, but it included numerous components that worked together.

"If you leave out pieces of that system, you're unlikely to achieve the same results."

According to Todd-Smith, speaking to students and children at the university gives her a lot of hope, but it additionally reminds her of the pressure to keep the momentum going.

"It's one thing to have a program and sit at a table and design it, and then a new governor comes in and it goes away, " she remarked. "If you have a program that stands for the test of time, you have a structure and a system, and I think that's what we've built as a system."

Bryant remarked he gives a lot of credit to former Gov. William Winter, an Ole Miss alumnus.

Getting to know William Winter and to hear his passion really stirred me to help with this, he remarked. So much of it comes back to this great university that has taken on that responsibility.

"Ole Miss really planted the flag for education and literacy and continues to do a tremendous job, and that's why we're here on this campus today." This article is republished courtesy of Ole Miss. Regarding the Author(s). Cain Madden is a Communications Specialist at the University of Mississippi. News Jeremy Pittari October 27, 2026. Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board revokes license for underperforming school.

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For now, state leaders reflect on Mississippi Miracle at Ole Miss summit remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.