If you’re a parent of a young reader, would you rather start off in Manhattan or Mississippi?
The answer may surprise you.
Today, fourth-grade students in Mississippi read almost a full school year ahead of their peers in New York City, according to national test scores.
It wasn’t always this way.
In the early 2000s, Mississippi students trailed New York City by half a year.
Now students in the Magnolia State read above the national average.
Mississippi isn’t alone: Other high-poverty Southern states have made major gains.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
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Michael T. Hartney is a faculty member in the department of political science at Boston College and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute. David Scarlett Wakelyn is a former New York Deputy Secretary for Education and a consultant at Upswing Labs.
Photo by Inside Creative House/Getty Images
