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Is Mississippi cooking the books?

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 15h

Honestly, read what we wrote: open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

DeBoer’s piece is a master class in straw manning, but a distraction from the conversations we need to be having about the best way to nurture reading comprehension (in addition to decoding skills) in schools nationwide.

No. The skeptics are wrong. The Southern Surge is real.

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Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 15h

Kelsey Piper and I penned a detailed piece unpacking the Southern Surge, in response to a Freddie DeBoer straw man.

“First, we must get straight on the plays in the Southern Surge playbook. BC, for the love of God, it’s not just phonics,” we wrote.

DeBoer responds with… a long rant about phonics.

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 15h

Kelsey Piper and I penned a detailed piece unpacking the Southern Surge, in response to a Freddie DeBoer straw man.

“First, we must get straight on the plays in the Southern Surge playbook. BC, for the love of God, it’s not just phonics,” we wrote.

DeBoer responds with… a long rant about phonics.

Are Books Really Disappearing From American Classrooms?

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 19h

“There are signs that some classrooms are shifting away from long-form reading much earlier, as far back as elementary school.”

www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Measuring whether "whole texts" are vanishing in favor of excerpts isn't clear cut.

www.edweek.org

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 22h

New study in JAMA:

“Preteens using increasing amounts of social media perform poorer in reading, vocabulary and memory tests in early adolescence compared with those who use no or little social media.”

“It's problematic… even in small doses."

Important read:
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Kids who use social media score lower on reading and memory tests, a study shows

Data from a large, ongoing study of adolescents shows a link between increasing social media use and lower cognition and memory in teens.

www.npr.org

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 1d

Phonics fixes everything.

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Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 1d

Not much literacy discourse here, but I am trying to change that!

The Southern Surge: Understanding the Bright Spots in the Literacy Landscape

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, I wrote about it here. Natalie was kind enough to cite my piece liberally.

www.karenvaites.org/p/the-southe...

Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama offer a playbook for improving reading outcomes.

www.karenvaites.org

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Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote about this education trend here, in case it’s of interest. I, too, have been calling for more journalists to tell this story.

www.karenvaites.org/p/the-southe...

The Southern Surge: Understanding the Bright Spots in the Literacy Landscape

Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama offer a playbook for improving reading outcomes.

www.karenvaites.org

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 1d

Hi there. I was the first person to write about the Southern Surge and coined the term. Strong curriculum was at the heart of of the work.

I wish he hadn’t included the “not ideology” part. It doesn’t fit the reality.

You can read more about it here:

www.karenvaites.org/p/the-southe...

The Southern Surge: Understanding the Bright Spots in the Literacy Landscape

Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama offer a playbook for improving reading outcomes.

www.karenvaites.org

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 1d

I am still seeing plenty of Misssissippi doubters in the mean streets of social media.

I believe my piece with Kelsey Piper debunked these narratives, as well as one can.

Please give it a read:

open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

Opinion | Why Are the Democrats Increasing Inequality?

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 4d

“The so-called Southern Surge came about because the red states built around a reading curriculum based on science.”

Watershed moment to see this trend in the NYT, just days after it was spotted in the Boston Globe and saw a second feature in The Argument.

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 4d

David Brooks shouts out the “so-called Southern Surge” in NYT.

“Schools in blue states like California, OR and WA are languishing, but schools in red states like Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee & Louisiana, traditional laggards, are suddenly doing remarkably well…”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...

www.nytimes.com

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 5d

Literacy discourse here is grim! But I keep tryin’

What's Really Behind the "Southern Surge"?

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 5d

@natwexler.bsky.social wants everyone to look closely at the work in Louisiana and Tennessee, to understand the role of knowledge-building curricula.

I heartily agree – and appreciate her kind words about my write up.

open.substack.com/pub/nataliew...

Improved reading scores in states like Louisiana are due to far more than “phonics” or “accountability.”

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 5d

“We identified over 200 programs that teach at least three of the five core components of scientifically based reading instruction right alongside at least one contrary practice.”

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 5d

Teacher preparation in America is such a mess.

“@NCTQ’s analysis revealed that 40% of teacher prep programs are still teaching two or more practices that are incompatible with scientifically based reading instruction.”

www.nctq.org/research-ins...

Is Mississippi cooking the books?

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 7d

Kelsey Piper (the author of the piece above) and I just teamed up to provide more detail on the Mississippi outcomes, and in short, this piece debunks any possibility that Mississippi’s testing cohort is influencing its success story:

open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

No. The skeptics are wrong. The Southern Surge is real.

Illiteracy is a policy choice

Reposted by Karen Vaites

Lakshya Jain @lakshya.splitticket.org · 19d

By many independent standards, Mississippi’s educational standards now exceed California’s.

Illiteracy is a policy choice.

www.theargumentmag.com/p/illiteracy...

Why aren’t we gathering behind Mississippi’s banner?

www.theargumentmag.com

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Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 7d

Highly recommended reading:

Christopher Huffaker @huffakingit.bsky.social · 8d

In yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine: My story on the Southern Surge and the Northern Nosedive.

New England schools are failing — and ‘nobody seems to care’ - The Boston Globe

Our math and reading scores have been declining for a decade. The “Southern Surge” should be a wake-up call.

www.bostonglobe.com

Reposted by Karen Vaites

Christopher Huffaker @huffakingit.bsky.social · 8d

In yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine: My story on the Southern Surge and the Northern Nosedive.

New England schools are failing — and ‘nobody seems to care’ - The Boston Globe

Our math and reading scores have been declining for a decade. The “Southern Surge” should be a wake-up call.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 7d

The Mississippi success story is regularly misrepresented – dismissed as fluke or fakery, or reduced to “just phonics.”

Kelsey Piper and I are having none of it.

We tag-teamed on this new piece for The Argument magazine:

open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

Is Mississippi cooking the books?

No. The skeptics are wrong. The Southern Surge is real.

a cartoon girl is laying on a bed holding a book and the words pretty please are behind her

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 9d

And @katonv.bsky.social has made upper grades her superpower, I know she will have things to add.

Please share your favorite reads and podcast episodes in the replies?

@mjliben.bsky.social @abbyteachesdsm.bsky.social @shannonsaglio.bsky.social @tinaengberg.bsky.social @missypurcell.bsky.social

ALT: a cartoon girl is laying on a bed holding a book and the words pretty please are behind her

media.tenor.com