As of this year, say yes and impose some form of retention policy linked to a child鈥檚 reading scores, according to the advocacy group ExcelInEd. But the question of retention has been hotly debated as a tool to drive reading scores, with Ohio its version in 2023 and dropping its requirement in 2024.

On one side, research suggests that third grade reading scores are of a student鈥檚 likelihood of academic success through middle school and into high school. Children who behind in the early years to ever get back on track.

On the other hand, it feels harsh to hold students back and separate them from their peers based on the results of a test. Plus, there is good reason to suspect that the children who will actually be affected by such a policy will be Black and low-income.

But there鈥檚 one more argument that, in my opinion, tips the scales in favor of third grade reading laws. In threatening to hold students back if they haven鈥檛 been taught to read properly, states are warning the adults to make sure each child is on track in literacy.

When you start to see third grade retention policies as less of an intervention and more about how they change adult behavior, you can see it show up in the research literature. For example, from Michigan 鈥� a state where, thanks to various exemptions and remediation efforts, the number of kids who are actually retained is just 鈥� found positive effects of its third grade reading law even in districts that did not hold any students back. A Florida found that flagging a child for retention improved the academic outcomes of their younger siblings. One of the study’s authors that, 鈥渢he high-stakes retention signal for the older siblings might inform parents and educators about the educational needs of the younger sibling and induce them to act.鈥�

If the actual act of retention were the trick, these results should be impossible. As is, they imply that the laws are forcing adults to change their behaviors in ways that boost reading outcomes even for kids who were not retained. 

One of the most active champions of third grade reading laws is ExcelinEd鈥檚 Kymyona Burk, who implemented Mississippi鈥檚 third grade reading bill while serving as the state鈥檚 literacy director. Last year, she told , 鈥淩etention is not the goal of the retention policy. 鈥he goal is for students to be identified early and receive the tutoring, the attention, the individualized reading plan to prevent a student from being retained.鈥�

Notably, did not just threaten to hold kids back. It also required districts to administer a state-approved literacy exam to identify any children in grades K-3 who might have a reading deficiency. If a student is identified as being at risk, districts have to draft an individual reading plan outlining the child鈥檚 specific deficiencies and a plan to address them. Schools also have to notify parents if their son or daughter has a reading challenge and provide parents with 鈥淩ead at Home鈥� lessons including guided reading assignments.

Like other states, Mississippi鈥檚 law includes 鈥済ood cause鈥� exemptions, for students who are non-native English speakers who have been in the country for less than two years of instruction or who suffer from severe disabilities that prevent them from learning to read successfully.

For children who are held back, the requirements get even tighter. Schools are required to provide them with at least 90 minutes of research-based reading instruction per day, delivered through small-group lessons, tutors or summer or afterschool programs.

Some skeptics argue that Mississippi鈥檚 up the national fourth grade reading rankings was dubious, as some of the tested students were older because they had been held back in third grade (and thus given more instruction and time to mature). For example, three professional statisticians published in January noting that, 鈥淚t is a fact of arithmetic that the mean score of any data set always increases if you delete some of the lowest scores.鈥� It is true that Mississippi has more students than average who are for their grade (54% versus 39%). But Mississippi鈥檚 rate is the same as Oklahoma’s and South Dakota’s, and Mississippi has much better reading than those two states. Besides, Mississippi has held back more kids than other states 鈥� what changed was the formal tie to a child鈥檚 reading performance.

If anything, states with third grade reading retention policies like Mississippi’s are taking early reading challenges more seriously than states without one. After all, student literacy is not likely to magically improve without some rigorous intervention. What鈥檚 more likely is that doors of opportunity will slowly close to them over time as schools pass them along from grade to grade.

Third grade reading policies can certainly be harsh for the students who are subject to them. But they force schools to address each child鈥檚 reading problems before they have a chance to fester.

Disclosure: Chad Aldeman is a consultant with ExcelinEd on an unrelated project. 

States including Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have garnered attention in the media for offering lessons other states can learn from 鈥� a February New York Times opinion piece heralded the trio as 鈥�.鈥�

Yet the Southern surge narrative has, so far, largely ignored another commonality among those states: tremendous improvements in early childhood education.

The most commonly cited reasons behind the trend relate to , specifically a commitment to phonics-based pedagogy, and a willingness to who are not reading on grade level. Importantly, this did not happen overnight, and it didn鈥檛 occur in isolation: Rachel Canter, who led a Mississippi education policy and advocacy group that was instrumental in shaping the state鈥檚 approach, the New York Times that the 鈥淪cience of reading is really important 鈥� it was a key piece of what we did,鈥� but added that 鈥減eople are missing the forest for the trees if they are only looking at that.鈥�

Indeed, in the same 2013 legislative session in which Mississippi passed the , which codified many of its reforms, the legislature also passed its first state pre-K bill, the (ELCA). The ELCA was a state-funded initiative that established voluntary, free or low-cost, high-quality pre-K programs that operated through partnerships between private pre-K providers, school districts and, in some cases, Head Start programs. These collaboratives had to meet all put forth by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). Over the years, enrollment in the Collaboratives has : When they were launched in 2014, the Collaboratives served 1,774 children and by the 2022-23 school year, student enrollment in pre-K had reached 6,800.

In on how the ELCA came about, Canter explained that with major early childhood and K-3 reforms both passing at the same time, the policies were designed to align. For instance, the pre-K legislation required participating providers to administer a school readiness assessment that lined up with the one students would be asked to take in Kindergarten. Substantial funds were invested in instructional coaches for pre-K teachers, and in providing pre-K teachers with access to literacy professional development opportunities comparable to what the state鈥檚 K-3 teachers were being offered.

Around the same time, neighboring states were engaged in their own reform efforts. In 2012, the , commonly referred to as Act 3. This unified early childhood governance within the Louisiana Department of Education and set the stage for broad reforms. Over the next few years, Louisiana required every child care program that received a dollar of public money to participate in the state鈥檚 accountability system, which included getting a minimum of two quality-focused inspections per year. The bar was also raised for teacher qualifications, requiring all lead teachers in publicly funded early learning settings to have at least an , a state-based professional credential.

The efforts paid off. Researchers that from 2016 to 2019, the percentage of publicly funded early childhood education programs in Louisiana that scored proficient or above on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) rating scale 鈥� a commonly-used measure of teacher-child interactions 鈥� rose from 62% to 85%. For child care programs specifically, excluding state pre-K and Head Start classrooms, the percentage of programs scoring proficient or above increased even more impressively, from 40% in 2016 to 73% in 2019. The kids in those classrooms, of course, are many of the same kids who later on the National Assessment of Educational Progress鈥� fourth grade literacy exam.

Alabama, meanwhile, has long been a leader in pre-K. In 2001, the state launched First Class Pre-K, an initiative that funds full-day pre-K across a variety of school- and community-based settings. With a focus on quality, the system has been since 2006 as part of the organization鈥檚 . However, funding constraints kept the program small. In the mid-2010s, though, First Class Pre-K began to scale. Between 2012 and 2024, the number of participating 4-year-olds from about 3,600 to more than 24,000. Around the same time, the state made a major investment in coaching for pre-K teachers, and its coaching model grew from serving around 200 teachers in 2012 to nearly 1,500 as of 2024. When Alabama began leaning fully into the science of reading with its , pre-K teachers in public schools also started getting on the subject.

Connecting early care and education reform to the Southern surge is, of course, an exercise in correlation and not causation. As Canter pointed out with regard to the science of reading, this is a multifaceted story and assigning too much credit to any one factor is unwise. Moreover, other states that have made major investments to their early childhood education systems 鈥� such as California and its universal transitional kindergarten program 鈥� have not to date seen the same types of literacy gains. What does seem fair is speculating that in a counterfactual world where Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama make the same reforms to K-3 but ignore early education entirely, the Southern surge would have been blunted. 

These states, then, offer important lessons for both early childhood and K-12 stakeholders around the importance of tightly and thoughtfully aligning both systems 鈥� in both directions 鈥� and ensuring there are enough resources present to support educators. Leaders don鈥檛 have to look far: groups like the have been developing alignment frameworks and tools for years. What鈥檚 needed is a renewed commitment, particularly among state and district leaders, to seeing early care and education not as a nice-to-have, a wholly separate enterprise, or even worse, a competitor 鈥� but as a core part of ensuring all children are reading on grade level. That might not be a miracle, but it would sure be an accomplishment.

She ensured that all K-3 teachers were trained in the 鈥淪cience of Reading鈥� and hired literacy coaches at schools that had the highest percentage of low-achievers. 

To guide the effort, Wright turned to the , based at Florida State University, one of nationwide. Little-known even among many educators, the labs, created by Congress in 1965, work with states and school districts to implement research-based practices.鈥�

By 2019, Wright and her colleagues had pulled off what is now known as the 鈥淢ississippi Miracle,鈥� with students in this deep red state making greater literacy gains than in any other. Fourth-graders in Mississippi rose from 49th in the nation to 29th 鈥� adjusting for demographics, it now ranks near the top of the U.S. in both fourth-grade reading and math, behind just Florida and Texas, according to the .

鈥淭hey were huge partners with us,鈥� Wright said of the lab in an interview this week. 鈥淚t’s just this amazing group of researchers and content-area specialists.鈥� 

But that distinction wasn鈥檛 enough to save the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast 鈥� or the nine other RELs, as they鈥檙e called. On Thursday, the U.S. Education Department announced that it had $336 million in contracts with the labs, saying auditors had uncovered 鈥渨asteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers.鈥�

It cited one lab鈥檚 work advising schools in Ohio to undertake 鈥渆quity audits,鈥� but provided no other examples.

The move has left researchers and literacy advocates shaking their heads. A director at a top research firm with many federal contracts, who asked not to be identified to avoid retaliation, said she got the sense from the sudden, broad cuts that 鈥渘o one went in and took a really careful look at where the RELs were being helpful.鈥�

While some lab projects likely haven鈥檛 led to improvements in practices or student outcomes, she鈥檚 doubtful that department officials even pored over such data. 鈥淪omeone decided that this whole program needed to go.鈥�

An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Since the centers are mandated by Congress, the department has said it will offer contracts to new bidders, but several observers said they were skeptical of this claim.

Understanding early literacy

While Mississippi鈥檚 2013 law mandated that Wright implement research-supported teaching, as state superintendent 鈥測ou can’t really be in every classroom making sure that’s happening,鈥� said Rachel Dinkes, CEO of the , an advocacy group that pushes for evidence-based policy.

That鈥檚 where the lab came in: It developed tools that allowed Wright to gather data about what was actually happening in classrooms, tell lawmakers about its effectiveness and ask for more money to continue the work.

It focused primarily on helping teachers learn about the Science of Reading, implementing a survey that evaluated their knowledge of early literacy skills 鈥� as well as instructions for literacy coaches to observe classrooms. 

Together, these allowed Wright to track teachers鈥� engagement with students and identify where teachers needed improvement.

鈥淭hey helped us develop resources that our teachers could use, that our leaders could use,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淚f there was something that we wanted to have evaluated programmatically, they would come in and evaluate that for us to inform our decision making. I mean, I can’t say enough about how important they were.鈥�

Wright also implemented tough reforms that weren鈥檛 always popular, such as a policy of retaining students in third grade as a 鈥渓ast resort.鈥� In 2019, third-graders, or more than one in four, failed the state鈥檚 literacy promotion test, also known as the “third-grade reading gate.鈥�

In a 2023 op-ed in 社区黑料, Wright and co-author Kymyona Burk, a senior policy fellow for early literacy at , said previous research is clear that students who aren鈥檛 reading at grade level when they enter fourth grade 鈥渁re not prepared for a critical transition 鈥� reading to learn 鈥� and have dramatically lower odds of succeeding in school or even graduating.鈥�

A from the lab found that teachers鈥� understanding of early literacy skills rose substantially, from the 48th percentile of teachers to the 59th. In schools that Wright targeted for extra help, average teacher ratings on instructional quality also rose, from the 31st percentile to the 58th. 

The lab also connected Mississippi educators to others in the region, Wright said, offering 鈥渁 chance for us to learn from each other, share what we were doing 鈥� share strategy, share resources and kind of help each other grow.鈥�

Though Wright hesitated to credit REL Southeast for this achievement, several observers have noted of late that states in the Deep South now in improved literacy. In this year鈥檚 NAEP report, released last month, four Southern states 鈥� Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina 鈥� turned in the largest gains in fourth-grade reading from 2019 to 2024. All four are member states of REL Southeast.

In all, Wright said, she worked with lab personnel for nine years, until she left Mississippi in 2022. She called them 鈥渁 group of expert partners鈥� ready to help and beloved by her staff, who relied upon them heavily. 

鈥淚magine having content experts at your beck and call for no charge,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were really, I thought, just gems of somebody’s creation.鈥�

Losing the labs, Wright said, is 鈥渁 huge disappointment鈥� for states focused on evidence- and research-based practices. 鈥淭o not have a reliable partner is a real loss for a state chief.鈥�

The move to zero out funding for the labs may also stand in opposition to a few priorities of the Trump administration itself. In a 74 op-ed last July, Wright, along with Penny Schwinn, a former Tennessee education commissioner, praised RELs as centers that stand ready 鈥渢o generate and apply evidence to improve student outcomes,鈥� even if too few leaders take advantage of them. 

Schwinn now awaits Senate confirmation as deputy secretary of education.

Driven by community needs

Last week鈥檚 move has thrown several major research organizations into turmoil. 

In a statement, Jannelle Kubinec, CEO of the research group , which runs two RELs, said the cancellation halts a project in Alaska to support student mental health, one in Nevada that addresses chronic absenteeism, another in Oregon that works to strengthen literacy instruction and one in Utah to address early-career teacher attrition.

The research organization , which runs two RELs, said cancellation of the contracts shuts down support for 鈥渁 wide range of evidence-based work鈥� requested by state and local education leaders, including a project helping teachers in Nebraska improve differentiated math instruction, one helping teachers in New Jersey use evidence-based practices for writing instruction, and one in Maryland that helps educators prepare high school students with disabilities to transition to adult life.

Mathematica also said its labs have worked with South Dakota and Wyoming to combat teacher shortages in rural districts via apprenticeships.

Dinkes noted another instance in which a REL had a huge impact: In Michigan, state leaders turned to their regional lab to find out why so many certified teachers were no longer teaching. It undertook a survey of 60,000 teachers and that they wanted, among other things, higher salaries, better promotion opportunities and more access to full-time jobs. They also wanted smaller class sizes and student loans, as well as easier, less costly ways to renew their certification.

The state tweaked laws affecting several of these factors and expanded the number of certified teachers who opted to teach. 

Several observers noted that the RELs are, in a sense, a response to long standing GOP complaints about federal education policy鈥檚 top-down focus: They actually help local educators apply research to problems they themselves identify as crucial.

鈥淭he REL work is driven by the state’s or the community’s needs,鈥� said Dinkes. 鈥淚t is not directed by the Hill.鈥�

Many states don’t have the research capability to undertake big projects like remaking literacy on their own, said Sara Schapiro, executive director of the , a coalition of non-profit, private and philanthropic organizations that advocate for more R&D investment. 鈥淭he RELs were really set up as the infrastructure to help them do that.鈥�

She said the labs 鈥渁re a really good example of this notion of returning responsibility of different functions to the states,鈥� where local leaders can drive a research agenda. 

Several people with knowledge of the situation also said it鈥檚 ironic that the RELs would get caught up in a battle over DEI and 鈥渨oke鈥� ideology, since much of their equity work is driven by states and school districts 鈥渟eeing disparities and outcomes for their students,鈥� said the research director who asked not to be named. 鈥淭hey’re trying to figure out how they can best address those disparities, and so they’ve come to the REL team with requests for help in that area.鈥�

Dinkes, the Knowledge Alliance CEO, said the impact of the labs鈥� work is 鈥渘ot abstract 鈥� it has a direct impact on schools, communities and what parents know.鈥� She said the way the federal contracts were severed, in the fourth year of a five-year cycle, in most cases, 鈥渄erails years of work鈥� that was having a direct impact on students. 

Wright, who now leads Maryland schools, was until last week planning to partner with the about essentially recreating the literacy and math work she did in Mississippi. 

Reached by phone after a legislative hearing in Annapolis, Wright said she had just begun developing a relationship with the Mid-Atlantic lab, led by Mathematica, when word of the cancelled contracts came down. 

鈥淲e were thinking, ‘This is great. We can establish another partnership with another REL.鈥� But that is not going to be the case now. It’s a real shame.鈥�