Mississippi's Literacy Retention Strategy | Jackson News

Mississippi’s bold move to hold back third graders who can’t read has sparked national attention—and debate. Launched in 2013, the policy aimed to stop social promotion and ensure kids master foundational skills before advancing. While critics feared it would punish students, the state paired retention with intensive tutoring, coaching, and teacher training—making it more effective than feared. Now, retention is creeping into earlier grades as schools push for early intervention. But Mississippi’s new focus on middle school literacy skips retention altogether, opting instead for support systems—raising the big question: Can you fix reading gaps without holding kids back? Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/48ef4539159c0679