Between 1900 and 1950, literacy among Americans 14 years and older rose dramatically. The 1950 Census found that illiteracy was below 3% in two-thirds of the states and below 10% in all states. These studies defined illiteracy as a complete inability to read English or any other language.

Seventy-five years later, that definition has changed a bit, but literacy in our country is growing worse.

The National Literacy Institute reports that 21% of today’s adults are illiterate, while 45 million are functionally illiterate, meaning they lack the reading skills necessary for functioning at work or in daily life. The United States ranks 36th globally in literacy, and poor reading skills cost our country over $2 trillion dollars a year.

These statistics mean that for the foreseeable future poorly prepared readers will not only continue to burden the economy but will themselves struggle to advance in the workplace, or be unable to enjoy the pleasure of reading novels, histories, and other good books.

The reasons pushed by government, teacher unions, and other organizations for this deplorable failure are fascinating. Some blame poverty, apparently forgetting that poverty was just as common in the United States in 1950 as now. Some point a finger at the number of foreign-born students in schools, yet data shows that native-born Americans “make up the largest percentage of those with low English literacy skills.” The National Literacy Institute points to a teacher shortage as part of the problem, though, again, in 1950 large classes were the rule rather than the exception in public and parochial schools.

But few of these officials blame the methods used to teach reading for these failures.

Until now.

For decades, Mississippi ranked near the bottom in reading and literacy as scored by the Nation’s Report Card. Many observers blamed the state’s poverty and “deeply rooted racial gaps” for these low scores.

In 2013, Mississippi ranked 49th on the Nation’s Report Card in reading. But then-Gov. Phil Bryant led the charge to reverse that dismal performance, and the Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA) became law.

One key element in this legislation was the requirement that third-graders not reading at grade level by the end of the school year must repeat third grade. Though this mandate originally met resistance from some parents and teachers, Bryant and the bill’s defenders stuck to their convictions, and the rule remained in force. Today most see the wisdom in holding a child back who is unprepared for fourth grade.

Just as importantly, the LBPA insisted on a phonics-based program of teaching, also called the “science of reading.” In her article “Mississippi’s Reading Revolution,” Anne Wicks gives an excellent explanation of this technique:

The ‘science of reading,’ as this approach is called, is sometimes described as having a singular focus on phonics, but that is misleading. The science of reading actually includes five elements: phonics (the relationship between letters and sounds…), phonemic awareness (the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds in words), fluency (the ability to read accurately and quickly), vocabulary (the meaning and context of words), and comprehension (a student’s ability to make meaning of what they read).

Finally, the LBPA actively sought and provided support for this new reading program, and the response was massive. Government and private donors invested in training coaches and teachers to spread the techniques necessary for the success of the science of reading. Joined as well by volunteers, all parties pitched in and made the program work.

Today Mississippi ranks 21st among the states in literacy.

This incredible leap forward has attracted the attention of other governors and state legislatures. Some 20 states are following Mississippi’s example, though unfortunately some lack the same zeal in training teachers and literacy coaches. There’s also ongoing debate about whether states should copy Mississippi and mandate the science of reading approach.

Mississippi has conclusively demonstrated that there’s nothing magical about teaching youngsters to read. Countless Americans – like Abraham Lincoln – grew literate at the knees of their mothers, and for decades homeschooling parents, private school educators, and even many public school teachers taught children to read using the five elements described by Wicks. Beginning in 1988, for instance, when our oldest child was not yet five, my wife and I taught our three sons to read using Samuel Blumenfeld’s “How to Tutor.” Since then, many more sophisticated approaches to phonics, both in print and online, have helped parents, few of whom have degrees in education, teach reading to their children.

So, bravo for Mississippi! May other states follow her example and put an end to illiteracy, functional or otherwise, in America.

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The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.

Image Credit: Direct Media