OKLAHOMA CITY 鈥� Touting his state鈥檚 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鈥檚 meteoric rise has been called the 鈥淢ississippi miracle.鈥�

鈥淚t really wasn鈥檛 a miracle at all,鈥� Reeves said during an Oklahoma State Chamber event Wednesday. 鈥淚t was the direct result of very good, strong policy followed by a plan to properly implement, and also 鈥� and perhaps most importantly 鈥� an accountability piece that was built into the statute.鈥�

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 鈥渢hird-grade gate鈥� 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鈥檚 academic outcomes. The chamber, a powerful collective of Oklahoma鈥檚 business community, has been a .

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 take the science of reading and make sure that teachers have that training so it鈥檚 being taught in the classrooms, none of this meant anything,鈥� Warmington said.

The science of reading emphasizes phonics-based instruction. Focusing on phonics is 鈥渁 good place to start鈥� 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.

鈥淲e have increased that level, by the way, four times since I鈥檝e been in office, and (are) about to increase it again,鈥� Reeves told Oklahoma City news reporters. 鈥淏ecause what鈥檚 going to happen when you raise the bar, when you raise the level of expectations, what鈥檚 happened in Mississippi is exactly what鈥檚 going to happen in Oklahoma.鈥�

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

Not only has Mississippi鈥檚 overall fourth-grade reading progress impressed the nation, but the state鈥檚 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.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 start seeing better retention of those (reading) gains, then we鈥檙e going to start testing kids when we get towards the seventh grade, just like we test kids in the third grade,鈥� he said.

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