TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2026
Black kids, fourth grade, reading: Is the "Mississippi miracle" real? We aren't able to tell you.
As we noted yesterday, Nicholas Kristof doesn't use that flamboyant term in his new column, but he tends to be a believer. For today, we thought we'd show you what this part of the miracle looks like:
These Three Red States Are the Best Hope in Schooling
[...]
Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil).
Say what? Is the highlighted statement actually true? Friend, here are the basic numbers from the most recent NAEP:
Average scores, 2024 Naep
Black kids, Grade 4 reading
Massachusetts: 202.86
Mississippi: 205.93
Sure enough! On average, Mississippi outscored Massachusetts by a bit more than three points.
(By a very rough rule of thumb, 10-11 points on the Naep scale is often said to correspond to roughly one academic year.)
Assuming that outcome is really real, that would be an impressive outcome. For the record, black kids nationwide averaged 198.06. Mississippi's average score leans toward being a whole school year better than that!
That would be an impressive outcome, though possibly not a miracle. For what it's worth, Mississippi's white eighth graders staged an impressive fight against the Yankees too:
Average scores, 2024 Naep
White kids, Grade 8 reading
Massachusetts: 233.21
Mississippi: 230.85
National average, 224.20. Mississippi's kids exceeded the national average, yapped at the Bay State's heels.
If there's nothing "wrong" with those test scores, it looks like something surprisingly good is happening in Mississippi. That said, when we look at the Grade 8 scores, it can start to look like the miracle has possibly started to fade, a bit like the morning dew.
Is there some explanation for that? We'll look at those Grade 8 scores later on this week.
BalasPadam"On average, Mississippi outscored Massachusetts by a bit more than three points."
Pff. Isn't this just another manifestation of the "get woke go broke" postulate?
You'll have to ask billionaire, LeBron James.
PadamRupaul has entered the chat.
PadamWhen someone goes to the trouble of questioning, over and over, whether a set of results is real or not, then it gives rise to a suspicion that they are not real. However, Somerby has provided absolutely no evidence that these results are not a valid measurement of educational progress in MS. He needs to put up or shut up.
BalasPadamThis is how white assholes like Somerby accuse states with lots of black kids of cheating. They won't come right out and say it, but they hint hint hint until people wonder what is going on. Somerby was wrong last time he accused MS of bogus results -- he said it was due to retention, when they have been retaining students for 20 years before their impressive improvement in scores. They DID do a whole lot of other things differently, which Somerby never acknowledged.
I have to wonder why Somerby is so vested in showing that black kids cannot improve their reading scores. The white kids staged an impressive gain too, Somerby says. Nothing there about whether their gain is really real. No use of the subjunctive tense (if their gain were real then it would be impressive).
The grade 8 scores have not "faded," much less like morning dew. They are for a different set of kids in higher grades who presumably did not have the same intensive improvement effort directed at them. Kids who were measured after they went through however MS dealt with covid (unlike the 4th graders).
Somerby used to call the NAEP the gold standard of tests because of the difficulty (and lack of motivation) for cheating on it. No such disclaimer today I notice. But also no suggestion or evidence of any oddness in the 4th grade scores. Just the repetition, over and over, that these scores only matter if they are really real and nothing is wrong with them, which should apply to all scores everywhere, but somehow only get applied to these fourth graders who did well in a mostly black state.
And this is what bigotry looks like. It is also why I dislike Somerby. We all went through this argument back when Somerby says he was in the hospital and Somerby lost. Drum was a mensch and retracted his wrong criticism. Somerby says he was MIA and is now ignoring everything said, even though it is all in his own archives. And of course he doesn't read his comments anyway, and therefore has learned nothing at all from those who took issue with him last time, with evidence contradicting his claims (in the form of a research study disproving Somerby's claim about why MS improvement was not due to retention of students).
And that makes Somerby both a bigot and an asshole. He will never be confused by facts that he never looks at, on this or any other topic. And that is both dishonest and shows bad faith. It makes me suspect that his only reason for talking about these scores is to denigrate the kids who produced them, because veryone knows black kids can't learn good. If they could, Somerby might have to wonder why his own inner city black kids in those early grades didn't improve more under his own teaching. If he thinks no black kids can learn, then he is off the hook. (This may be conscious or unconscious reasoning) but it would explain why he has it in for those overachievers in MS, who should be acknowledged, if only so that other states can learn from their methods how to do better in their states.
But how do you really feel?
PadamUnlike Somerby, some of us care about children’s education.
PadamGrade 8 scores aren't going to prove that kids didn't learn in grades 1-4. If there are scores show less improvemet, it may suggest they need to improve methods in grades 5-8. If there are decreases, it will most likely indicate they didn't do well during covid in MS, which is true of most of the nation.
BalasPadamIf these results are correct, it would mean that the introduction of more complex reading methods was not only not helpful but was counterproductive. IMO this is plausible, because education research is generally no high quality.
BalasPadam“ education research is generally no high quality.”
PadamWhat is your basis for this claim? Please be specific.
No, it would not indicate that at all. If the results are not correct, it would suggest that phonics instruction didn't work, which is highly unlikely. That means Somerby's repeated, unsupported assertion that something is wrong with the numbers, has no basis and is inconsistent with both research and results in other states.
PadamDavid, you know nothing at all about education research. The idea that it is not high quality (whatever you mean by that) is incorrect. It is difficult to do education research because it is considered unethical to manipulate assignment of children to conditions where they do not receive the best quality of instruction. That means education research is more correlational, but that doesn't mean it is poorly done or inconclusive or wrong. There are statistical methods for drawing causal inferences from correlational data, and there is also use of qualitative approaches in a rigorous manner. But you have no idea what you are talking about.
As a foreign troll, David's basis for all his ridiculously misguided claims is whatever talking points he is handed.
PadamAll research is generally no high quality.
PadamOr most research anyway. There's no incentives for making it high quality, and researchers are usually idiots.
Fuck you David you nasty dumb troll ass.
Padam3:55. Stated with the assurance of some clown who knows absolutely nothing about how research is conducted. Also, your first and third sentences are giveaways that you do not know how to construct a proper sentence in English. Pitiful.
Padam“…education research is generally no high quality.” Like the ESL troll above, you likewise seem to have your issues with the English language. 3:41 may be on to something.
PadamStated by the retarded finger-sniffing resident idiot-Democrat cat-lady, operating from eastern Europe.
PadamSqueal louder, Mao.
PadamAfter some really dumb analyses from Somerby, he runs to his safe space of NAEP scores, but even here he is not on steady ground.
BalasPadamPoor pitiful Somerby.
It doesn't seem like there's anything revolutionary, as far as teaching methodology. This reminds me of the Hawthorne Factory experiment in Chicago, back in the 1920's, which became known as the Hawthorne Effect. Essentially, they are paying attention to the kids; and both the parents and the kids appreciate it.
BalasPadamAnother thing that I noticed in the article is that Mississippi invested in pre-K. All states should be doing that. This should be a national program. Kudos to these states for trying to help.
"A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., declined a request by prosecutors to indict two U.S. senators, Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, on charges of seditious conspiracy.
BalasPadamThe attempted indictment of Kelly and Slotkin related to a video they participated in with four other Democrats in Congress that reminded members of the U.S. military that they have the right to refuse to follow illegal orders by superiors."
There's dumb and there's dumber. And then there's the Trump DOJ.
And then, over the distant surreal plasma horizon arose a gargantuan fanny.
BalasPadamIt must have been several miles in diameter!
I nearly instantly shielded my eyes as a show of decency.
However, if I had known what was coming next, I would have shielded my ears and nose.
I then reopened my eyes to further assess the situation.
What I observed were the giant cheeks beginning to flap rather violently.
Nearly a minute later the accompanying deafening roar filled the air around me.
A couple minutes after, a fierce, gale-force wind reached my location, carrying with it a potent and putrid, nauseating aroma.
I immediately began hallucinating, and was visited by a non-human intelligence that advised me to bow down in reverence to the Almighty Fanny.
Makes more economic sense than supply-side.
PadamApparently a republican congressman is asking the FCC to investigate the Superbowl half time performance by Bad Bunny. We live in Nazi Germany now.
BalasPadamIf only everyone couldn't see the Republican Party embracing fascism in as far back as the Reagan Administration.
PadamIt goes back to Nixon and his gang of criminals
PadamThe Republican Party is very fortunate that all their voters are bigots. They'd be screwed if they weren't.
BalasPadamThere are still gullible fools out there who don't think the Republican Party will bring back the enslavement of black people.
BalasPadamDoubtful.
PadamIt's probably just media members pretending they don''t think it, so they won't lose their jobs.