Amy, J. (2019, April 19). Mississippi raises high-stakes reading bar for third graders. Retrieved April 26, 2019.

Students in 16 states, including Mississippi, require third-grade students to pass a reading proficiency test or be held back a year. Harvard University education professor Martin West says his research can’t prove such policies improve academic performance over the long term, but he says they may help educators focus on improving early-grade literacy.