How Policy Adoption and Effective Implementation Work Together to Improve Reading Outcomes for Students: ExcelinEd’s Early Literacy Matters Updates

As a nation we have a lot of work to do to increase reading proficiency and close gaps among students. I have watched several NAEP-related webinars over the past couple of weeks that have briefly mentioned the potential correlation between a state’s early literacy policy adoption (or the lack thereof) and this year’s NAEP results.  I know that correlation does not equal causation, but I must admit that I’ve been interested in finding an underlying connection between policy and reading outcomes for years, especially considering my work with Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act implementation. With ExcelinEd’s most recent annual update to our Early Literacy Matters (ELM) site, I’ve spent some time taking a closer look.  

The most effective early literacy policies embrace a preventative model to ensure safety nets and supports are in place to identify students who struggle so that teachers can intervene as early as possible. These policies empower states to simultaneously activate key levers of change such as professional development and coaching for teachers, universal screening and interventions for students, and parent read-at-home plans and parental notification for families to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn to read.  

There are many factors that contribute to student performance, but the policy implementation perspective is quite intriguing. ExcelinEd’s 18 fundamental principles of a comprehensive early literacy policy has become a model for states seeking to take a comprehensive approach to improving reading outcomes.  

Utilizing the “filter” option on ELM’s Literacy Map page, I’ve listed a few highlights from this year’s updates: 

• Three (3) additional states have now adopted all 18 fundamental principles, bringing the total number of states to six (6); Alabama, Indiana and South Carolina join Louisiana, North Carolina and Arkansas in this category.  
• The number of states adopting professional development grounded in the science of reading increased from 34 to 41, but only 13 states are currently in full implementation, requiring teachers and administrators to participate in the training (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia). 
• States adopting Educator Preparation Program assessments aligned with the science of reading to obtain licensure increased from 24 to 31. 
• Forty (40) states have adopted and/or provide guidance on the adoption of high-quality instructional materials; however, only 18 states prohibit instructional materials that include three cueing instructional strategies, an increase from just 10 states in 2023. 
• The requirement for states to offer summer learning opportunities through summer reading camps or other innovative summer programs remained at 19 states. While Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin repealed or relaxed provisions for summer reading camps, Indiana New Mexico and West Virginia are new states that have committed to providing this extended learning opportunity for their students.   

Now, to my thoughts about possible policy-related connections to NAEP.  

As much as Mississippi’s early literacy policy has become a model for many states, our implementation strategies have also been highlighted as equally important. Mississippi adopted 17/18 fundamental principles over two legislative sessions (2013 and 2016), beginning with the adoption of a comprehensive early literacy policy and later adding an individual reading plan to monitor interventions for students and a licensure assessment aligned to the science of reading for future educators.

As the State Literacy Director at the Mississippi Department of Education during that time, I worked with my team to develop practical but effective implementation strategies for schools and districts and assigned literacy coaches to support teachers in our lowest performing schools. This model has been sustainable and is still yielding positive results. The state has seen significant improvements over the last decade, ranking number one for reading and math improvement since 2013. Mississippi fourth grade readers have soared from 49^th in the nation in 2013 to ninth in 2024. Subgroup performance is particularly notable with Black students ranking third and Hispanic and low-income students ranking first in the nation when compared to their peers. 

Some states that have adopted ExcelinEd’s 18 fundamental principles also saw improvement or remained steady: 

• Louisiana has adopted 18/18 fundamental principles, and its fourth graders led the nation in reading improvement for the second consecutive cycle of The Nation’s Report Card (2022 and 2024). Louisiana is one of only two states in which fourth graders exceeded 2019 scores in both reading and math and has improved in the national rankings from 41^st to 15^th in reading. 

• Alabama has adopted 18/18 fundamental principles and is currently in full implementation of 17 of them. It is the only other state in which its fourth graders exceeded pre-pandemic scores in both reading and math, improving from 48^th in reading and 51^st in math in 2019 to 33^rd and 31^st, respectively, according to the 2024 NAEP reading results.    

• Indiana has made significant financial investments in early literacy and has adopted 18/18 fundamental principles. From 2022 to 2024, Indiana improved from 19^th to sixth in the nation in fourth grade reading. 

• South Carolina recently increased early literacy efforts and has now adopted 18/18 fundamental principles. The state’s NAEP scores increased slightly and moved up in the rankings from 25^th to 24^th from 2022 to 2024.  

I’m not a psychometrician, statistician or a NAEP expert, but these data points when compared to policy adoption and implementation cannot be ignored.  

When we developed ExcelinEd’s Early Literacy Matters tool, our goal was to build stakeholder awareness of states’ policies so that we can better understand the efforts that are underway (or not) to improve reading outcomes.

To be clear, literacy success doesn’t happen overnight, and the nation has a long way to go to overcome the literacy crisis. States that have seen improvements—albeit statistically significant or not—are working to achieve systemic change and to effectively implement strong policies that put students at the center. It will take time. Stay the course.