Don't Worry About the Vase Podcast Childhood And Education #17: Is Our Children Reading
May 11, 2026
A tour of dramatic reading gains in Mississippi and the policies behind them. A look at phonics curricula, coaching, accountability and retention debates. Comparisons with England’s reforms and questions about mastery learning. A critique of policies that may hurt advanced readers and a discussion on whether young people still read for pleasure.
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Implement Phonics With Training And Accountability
- Adopt phonics-based curricula, train teachers on them, and build clear accountability across districts and schools.
- Mississippi paired mandates with teacher training, literacy coaches, screenings, parent notification, and third-grade retention to ensure implementation.
Quality Over Big Spending In Reading Reform
- Improving literacy doesn't require massive new spending; it requires multi-layered, sustained investments and replacing low-quality curricula.
- Mississippi and other southern states improved while remaining low in per-pupil spending by insisting on high-quality programs and coaching.
Don't Just Approve Phonics — Enforce It
- Make curriculum replacement, coaching, and enforcement explicit rather than mere lip service.
- Zvi notes California's passive approval of phonics fails without funding, mandates, and follow-through interventions.