Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works Lessons from the Southern Surge with Karen Vaites
Dec 24, 2025
Karen Vaites, an education entrepreneur and advocate for effective literacy and math teaching, shares insights on the Southern Surge in literacy improvements across states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. She discusses the four pillars driving these gains: training, screening, curriculum, and third-grade retention. Vaites contrasts different state models of reform and emphasizes the importance of execution over legislation. She also critiques teacher preparation programs and proposes a national database for curriculum analysis, aiming to raise educational outcomes.
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Use Both Foundations And Knowledge
- Use both foundational‑skills programs and knowledge‑building curricula; order can vary by state.
- Prioritize getting both elements into classrooms, even if one leads first.
Why Some Resist The Success Story
- Skepticism about the Southern Surge often ignores multiple-state replication and detailed cohort gains.
- Political priors and past data errors cause some to resist accepting the improvements.
Design Retention As A Safety Net
- If retention policy exists, pair it with rigorous screening, training, summer interventions, and high‑performing teachers for retained students.
- Use retention as a last‑resort safety net within a system that pulls out all stops beforehand.