Content Start
Why?
The impact of the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, passed in 2013, and the subsequent improvement in students’ reading achievement in Grades K–3, has been an integral part of Mississippi’s growth in student achievement on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP). Seeking to refine their success in K-3 literacy and expand the model to the upper grades, Mississippi has partnered with Region 7 Comprehensive Center (R7CC) to build the knowledge of evidence-based literacy instruction and interventions as well as the capacity to deliver evidence-based instruction and interventions with fidelity, for Grades 4–12 teachers.
What?
Mississippi Comprehensive Literacy is a capacity-building project to improve state, district, and school leadership and instructional supports that drive effective implementation as well as the sustainability of evidence-based literacy practices containing timely and equitable classroom intervention. Project activities include but are not limited to: (1) review and analysis of state readiness through the use of capacity assessments; (2) analysis and feedback for the revision of the current comprehensive state literacy plan (Birth through Grade 12); (3) the collaborative development of a framework and guidance documents for the implementation of literacy innovations for the upper grades, including coaching support for Grades 4–8; and (4) the ongoing development of an evidence-based literacy resource repository organized around key elements of the state’s revised Comprehensive Literacy Plan.
Results?
The project targets multiple literacy leadership audiences with the ultimate goals of (1) improving Grades 4–12 teacher knowledge and skill in delivering evidence-based literacy instruction, assessment, and timely intervention; and (2) improving Grades 4–12 literacy outcomes that continue to narrow reading proficiency gaps on state assessments and the NAEP for all students.