OKLAHOMA CITY — Touting his state’s soaring literacy scores, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves urged Oklahoma leaders to commit to tough reading policies.

This year, Oklahoma as Mississippi, whose fourth-grade reading scores have after decades of ranking near the bottom. The state’s meteoric rise has been called the “Mississippi miracle.”

“It really wasn’t a miracle at all,” Reeves said during an Oklahoma State Chamber event Wednesday. “It was the direct result of very good, strong policy followed by a plan to properly implement, and also — and perhaps most importantly — an accountability piece that was built into the statute.”

Mississippi began implementing significant investments and changes in its literacy laws in 2012, Reeves said. That included a controversial requirement that struggling readers repeat third grade.

Oklahoma students will face a similar “third-grade gate” starting in the 2027-28 academic year. Third graders who score below a basic level on the annual state reading test and who fail a second standardized assessment would have to repeat the grade, unless they meet limited criteria for an exemption.

, signed into law in April, also requires Oklahoma public schools to provide extra tutoring, small-group reading lessons, summer academies and transitional classrooms starting in kindergarten to support students who show early signs of falling behind.

The state Legislature invested $5 million to grow a statewide team of literacy coaches, $5 million for reading instruction training for teachers and $840,000 to purchase reading materials to mail to children. Lawmakers also added $26.25 million in school funding for reading instruction.

State Chamber President and CEO Chad Warmington said literacy coaches and teacher training will be essential to improving Oklahoma’s academic outcomes. The chamber, a powerful collective of Oklahoma’s business community, has been a .

“If we don’t take the science of reading and make sure that teachers have that training so it’s being taught in the classrooms, none of this meant anything,” Warmington said.

The science of reading emphasizes phonics-based instruction. Focusing on phonics is “a good place to start” for a state turnaround, Reeves said.

Mississippi also has raised its standards for how it defines a proficient reader. A state law whenever 75% of students make a proficient score on yearly tests or when 65% of schools or districts make a grade of B or higher on annual A-F evaluations.

“We have increased that level, by the way, four times since I’ve been in office, and (are) about to increase it again,” Reeves told Oklahoma City news reporters. “Because what’s going to happen when you raise the bar, when you raise the level of expectations, what’s happened in Mississippi is exactly what’s going to happen in Oklahoma.”

Oklahoma’s proficiency standards . NAEP tests students in all 50 states every two years and compiles the results in the Nation’s Report Card.

Not only has Mississippi’s overall fourth-grade reading progress impressed the nation, but the state’s scores among Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students have ranked at or near the top of the country, according to .

Mississippi ranks only 40th in eighth grade reading, though, which has raised questions about the long-term efficacy of the third-grade gate.

Reeves said he signed legislation this year to add reading, math and career coaches focused on grades 5-8 to address the middle-school regression.

“If we don’t start seeing better retention of those (reading) gains, then we’re going to start testing kids when we get towards the seventh grade, just like we test kids in the third grade,” he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.