

































Mississippi has recently improved its reading pro!ciency scores among fourth-grade students. However, the state 
still faces a variety of challenges within its public education system including a shortage of educators and room 
for improvement in reading pro!ciency across grade levels. Current policy has contributed to improvements, but 
additional education reforms are needed to address these issues. "e analysis explores the question, “How should 
policymakers further address literacy rates and teacher retention?” through the framework of the policy process 
model. Recommendations include increasing teacher pay, fully funding the Mississippi Adequate Education 
Program, and providing government-supported service scholarships.

Keywords: Mississippi education, education policy, reading pro!ciency, teacher shortage, literacy reform

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  202468

Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

by McKenzie Cox

Introduction
 "e New York Times called it “"e Mississippi 
Miracle” (Kristof, 2023). An educational 
phenomenon swept across the state, showing a 
signi!cant shi# in 4th-grade reading performance 
across all socioeconomic demographics. Students at 
Edna Scott Elementary in Leland, Mississippi (MS) 
were previously some of the lowest-scoring students 
in the Delta in reading pro!ciency according to an 
aspiring educator and former school performance 
and analyst with Delta Health Alliance (full interview 
available in Appendix). When policy was enacted to 
allow literacy coaches to provide specialized support 
for local school districts, the school was allocated 
multiple literacy fellows. "e school recently 
celebrated a 100% state exam pass rate among the 
classes paired with literacy fellows. "e story of Edna 
Scott Elementary is not the only one of its kind as 
schools around the state have experienced similar 
waves of success a#er the implementation of state-
level education policy reforms.
 Historically, MS has struggled to maintain 
high levels of reading pro!ciency through public 
education, and it currently struggles to retain 
educators (Ballard and Breazeale, 2023). According 
to the National Center for Education Statistics, the 
recent average score for 8th-grade students was 
lower than 37 other US states ("e National Center 
for Education Statistics, 2022). MS teacher pay was 

the lowest in the nation just two years ago (National 
Education Association, 2022). Reading scores from 
the local and state levels and the personal testimony 
of those studying to become educators in MS will be 
used to measure and operationalize this problem. 
"ere are a variety of potential causes for these 
issues in the education system, including lack of state 
funding and resources, unequal distribution of these 
resources, and high student-to-teacher ratios. "is 
discussion will examine the question, “How should 
policymakers further address literacy rates and 
teacher retention?” through the framework of the 
policy process model. Policy outcomes should include 
improving reading pro!ciency scores across grade 
levels and increasing teacher retention. Alternatives 
for addressing these issues are boosting teacher 
pay, providing additional incentives for prospective 
educators, shi#ing the balance of funding from local 
to state, and increasing discretionary spending per 
pupil. "e intent of this paper is to drive forward the 
conversation surrounding the betterment of public 
education in MS and the recruitment of quali!ed 
teachers to the state.

Background of Policy
Education Reform Act of 1982
 In the 1980s, other southern states commented, 
“"ank God for Mississippi!” (MS) when addressing 
their educational de!ciencies (Lu, 2017, p. 88). In other 



Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  202469

words, Mississippi’s long-term failure to improve 
performance kept other states from the bottom of 
national education rankings. "is sparked calls for 
change and "e Education Reform Act of 1982, 
the state’s most expansive and in$uential education 
reform (Lu, 2017, p. 1). "e legislation’s four principal 
goals were to increase student performance, better 
individual school performance, create accountability 
for state involvement and !nancial planning, and 
improve professional development for school sta% 
(Mississippi Department of Education, 2002, p. 1). 
Notably, this created a stronger foundation for state 
oversight of local school districts through its newly 
appointed positions and !nancial allocations. "e 
act also created a performance-based evaluation 
system for school accreditation, which led to a 
uniform curriculum for all districts (Mississippi 
Department of Education, 2002, p. 2). In theory, 
this uniform curriculum would allow for a fair 
evaluation of school performance despite content 
di%erences; however, inequalities in performance 
persisted. However, this act served as a landmark for 
education reform, as it sparked other states in the 
region to consider education reform in the post-civil 
rights era (Lu, 2017, p. 1).

"e Mississippi Adequate Education Program
 Despite this new curriculum uniformity, 
educators and the general public recognized that 
schools were still performing unequally due to 
funding sourced from property taxes (Pittman, 
2017, p. 31). Wealthier districts with higher property 
values had more available funding than schools 
in less populated and a&uent areas. In 1994, the 
state legislature passed "e Mississippi Adequate 
Education Program (MAEP), which established a 
new formula for funding that begins with the amount 
of money that each student requires for a satisfactory 
education and then subtracts the expected local 
district contribution (Pittman, 2017, p. 38).
 "is legislation receives mixed reviews: It is praised 
for ease of understanding and implementation, and 
it is criticized for its lack of realization. According 
to a report from the Clarion Ledger, the formula 
has only fully funded schools twice in its history – 
both instances during election years (Mitchell 2019). 
Neither of these acts of legislation, despite their 
magnitude, increased the national rankings of public 
education in MS. "erefore, further legislative action 
and reform were required.

 Policy and education experts began to question 
whether existing reforms could truly be evaluated 
in a way that was cognizant of the socioeconomic 
context of the region, raising issues for the policy 
evaluation stage. For example, Burbage (2008) 
raises the question, “Can the impact of adequacy-
based education reform be measured?” using MS 
and other economically similar states as points of 
comparison. Investigations such as these pushed 
the dialogue surrounding education reform in the 
South to include more speci!c indicators in policy 
formulation.

Current State of Policy
Literacy-Based Promotion Act
 A more recent act of education reform emerged 
from the same principles as the Education Reform 
Act of 1982. "e Literacy-Based Promotion Act 
(LBPA) was passed in 2013 and was implemented 
during the 2014-2015 academic year to require that 
students scoring at the lowest level of achievement 
for 3rd-grade reading would not be promoted to the 
4th grade (Mississippi Department of Education, 
n.d.). Since its enactment, the LBPA has been a 
living reform. It has been amended multiple times 
to include the Individual Reading Plan program, 
increase expectations for 3rd-grade benchmarks, and 
introduce literacy coaches to support districts across 
the state (Mississippi Department of Education, 
n.d.). Education experts believe that this was a key 
contributing factor to the so-called Mississippi 
Miracle boost in reading scores among elementary 
school students.

Increases in Teacher Pay
 "e state legislature passed the largest raise 
for public school teachers in the state’s history in 
March of 2022, with an average $5,151 increase 
(Ballard and Breazeale, 2023). Schools in lowest 
bracket of accountability ratings experienced high 
teacher turnover in the 2023 school year (Ballard 
and Breazeale, 2023). "is implies either that raises 
were insu'cient for the increased cost of living or 
that teachers are concerned with more than !nancial 
compensation. 
 Teacher pay remains a contentious issue in 
the state, comprising a signi!cant portion of the 
questions in the state’s 2023 gubernatorial debate. 
"is re$ects the public’s perception of the issue’s 



Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  202470

importance and the election’s role in agenda-setting 
for potential future reforms. Incumbent Republican 
Governor Tate Reeves emphasized the signi!cance 
of the recent teacher pay increase stating that he was 
“proud” of the teachers and students who “worked 
so hard,” resulting in the Mississippi Miracle (Reeves 
and Presley, 2023). Democratic challenger Brandon 
Presley responded, “I think we’re measuring wrong 
on where we’re going in teacher pay,” arguing that the 
state needs to focus on meeting and exceeding the 
national average rather than the regional average for 
these salaries (Reeves and Presley, 2023). 

Future Directions
 Now that the state has climbed in rankings, the 
next steps for reform are unclear. "ose formulating 
policy must consider the successful and unsuccessful 
elements of previously mentioned reforms, 
according to the selected evaluation criteria, along 
with proposed policy alternatives.

Policy Alternatives
Increasing the State’s Funding Responsibility and 
Boosting Teacher Pay
 Increasing state funding for education is a 
policy proposal that has gained traction. A higher 
percentage of state funding for public education can 
increase equity and student outcomes (Moser and 
Rubenstein, 2002, p. 70). For Mississippi (MS), this 
would involve shi#ing from shared local and state 
funding responsibility to predominantly state-based 
funding and adjusting the Mississippi Adequate 
Education Program (MAEP). 
 North Carolina (NC) is a state that receives the 
majority of its educational funding from the state 
government. Its regional similarities to MS make it 
a point of comparison. "e state provides 70% of 
its total education budget, and local contribution 
varies depending on the !scal capacity of the district 
(Jones, 2003, pp. 2-3). NC did not greatly outperform 
MS’ 2022 8th-graders in reading pro!ciency scores, 
but previous data shows a larger disparity, with NC 
readers scoring measurably higher ("e National 
Center for Education Statistics, 2022). 
 An increase in state funding would allow for 
ful!llment of the MAEP formula and investments 
to improve the classroom experience such as new 
technology for students. It could also be used 

to increase teacher pay as a method of retaining 
educators.
 As mentioned previously, MS recently approved 
the largest single-year pay raise in state history. "e 
average teacher pay was the lowest in the nation 
just two years ago at $46,862 (National Education 
Association, 2022). Making further increases to 
teacher pay to meet or surpass the national average 
could make MS more appealing to educators and 
more competitive nationally. However, it should 
be noted that with the national average sitting at 
$65,293 (National Education Association, 2022), 
this would be a signi!cant !nancial undertaking for 
a system already stretched for funding.

Providing Additional Incentives for Prospective 
Educators
 Another policy alternative includes providing 
additional incentives for those considering careers 
in education. "e goal of this policy is to recruit 
more educators, decrease the teacher shortage, and 
lower student-to-teacher ratios to provide more 
individualized attention for students. Potential 
incentives, separate from increased salaries, include 
service scholarships; loan forgiveness; and reducing 
barriers to entry.

Service Scholarships
 Scholarships for undergraduate students 
requiring a certain number of years as a public-school 
educator can incentivize additional students to work 
in education, therefore reducing the teacher shortage. 
"e North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program 
(NCTFP) provides annual renewable scholarships of 
$6,500 to students in exchange for four years working 
in an NC public school (Podolsky & Kini, 2016, p. 5). 
NCTFP accounts for approximately 10% of the state’s 
credentialed educators (Podolsky & Kini, 2016, p. 5).
 "e University of Mississippi and Mississippi 
State University host the MS Excellence in Teaching 
Program (METP), which is a partnership to provide 
cost-of-attendance awards for students majoring in 
education !elds and committed to serving 5 years 
in an MS public school (“Mississippi Excellence,” 
n.d.). "e program is not funded directly by the state 
government but by the Robert M. Hearin Support 
Foundation of Jackson, MS (“Mississippi Excellence,” 
n.d.).



Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  202471

Loan Forgiveness for Teachers
 Loan forgiveness is one way to incentivize 
individuals to go into education. A bene!t of this 
program over service scholarships is that it does 
not require an individual to commit to a career in 
education before completing their undergraduate 
degree, which could entice college graduates to enter 
education later in their careers. For example, the 
Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program provides 
loan forgiveness of up to $5,000 for undergraduates 
and $10,000 for postgraduates, which has allowed 
the state to !ll many teaching positions in specialized 
subjects (Podolsky & Kini, 2016, p. 3).

Reducing Barriers to Entry
 In response to the teacher shortage, Oklahoma 
no longer requires teachers to have a college degree 
(Balingit, 2022). "is allows additional individuals 
willing to serve to enter the workforce and increase 
the number of educators. "is has raised concerns 
regarding poor quality of instruction, which could 
decrease reading pro!ciency test scores, student 
outcomes, and safety of students.

Recommendations
 To increase reading pro!ciency and teacher 
retention rates, a three-pronged approach is 
necessary. Mississippi (MS) should increase 
teacher pay, fully fund the MS Adequate Education 
Program (MAEP), and increase the availability of 
government-supported service scholarships. "ese 
actions will incentivize individuals to pursue careers 
in education while increasing state accountability 
regarding contributions to public school funding, 
which will provide a higher quality of instruction to 
increase reading pro!ciency test scores. "is policy 
proposal will be evaluated using criteria identi!ed 
by Kra# and Furlong (2020): e%ectiveness, e'ciency, 
equity, liberty, and political feasibility. 

E#ectiveness
 “I think there are lots of ways that the education 
system can be improved including teacher pay, 
additional incentives, and importantly more funding 
for schools in general,” said an aspiring Mississippi 
public school educator in her interview (full 
transcript available in Appendix). She believes that 
fellow aspiring teachers feel the same way.

 Research shows that higher salaries for teachers 
are an e%ective way to increase retention and the 
quality of instruction (Hough and Loeb, 2013, p. 
10). By increasing the state teacher pay to at least 
the national average, educators will be more likely to 
remain in the state. "is will help reduce the teacher 
shortage and provide more individual instruction, 
which will aid in increasing reading pro!ciency 
levels and test scores. As stated previously, the 
MAEP formula has only been fully funded twice 
since its inception (Mitchell 2019). Encouraging the 
government to enforce its legislation to fund public 
education under its own formula will increase the 
resources available to school districts and the overall 
educational experience for students.
 “"e Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program 
(METP), I think, has de!nitely reinforced my desire 
to become an educator,” said the interviewee. "is 
indicates that service scholarships are an e%ective 
way to incentivize students who are on the fence 
about education. “It was a huge factor in me wanting 
to teach in the Mississippi Public School System,” she 
elaborated. "e METP program is relatively small 
in scale and is not supported by the government. 
However, it could be made more expansive and 
opened to other campuses with state funds, e%ectively 
working to reduce the teacher shortage. "erefore, 
the government should consider establishing its 
own program similar to METP, perhaps on a smaller 
!nancial scale, that would o%er scholarships in 
exchange for 5 years in the MS Public School System.

E$ciency
 "is proposal requires a signi!cant !nancial 
investment from the state government. However, 
it is not unlike the !nancial contributions of other 
states towards their public education program. For 
example, continuing to use North Carolina (NC) as 
a point of comparison, the state contributes 70% of 
its total education budget and has higher teacher pay 
(Jones, 2003, pp. 2-3). In order to remain competitive 
with other states in the region for student outcomes 
and teacher retention, MS needs to match the 
funding and educational resources of states like NC.
 METP provides a full cost of attendance award 
for a group of aspiring teachers at "e University 
of Mississippi and Mississippi State University 
(“Mississippi Excellence,” n.d.). Although a state-
sponsored award of this magnitude would require 



Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  202472

a large expenditure, research suggests that the 
scholarship does not need to be all-inclusive to be 
e%ective. For example, the NC program provides 
annually renewable scholarships of $6,500 and its 
graduates account for 10% of the state’s teachers, 
which is a larger portion than METP (Podolsky 
& Kini, 2016, p. 5). Decreasing the award size will 
increase e'ciency.

Equity
 "ere are concerns that the MAEP funding 
formula is not equitable. However, much of 
these disparities stem from the lack of promised 
investment. Additional funding from the state 
government would increase the equitableness of the 
public education system by allowing for additional 
resources for students with physical or learning 
disabilities, $exibility to better address poverty’s 
e%ects in the classroom, and smaller class sizes for 
more individualized attention (Parents’ Campaign, 
n.d.). "ese outcomes will help increase reading 
pro!ciency levels and better the working conditions 
for educators.

Liberty
 Depending on implementation, this proposal 
could increase taxes either for certain or all 
individuals in the state, which restricts economic 
liberty (Ganaucheau, 2022). Contrastingly, better 
!nancial compensation for teachers will increase 
their liberty as they would no longer be con!ned 
to living with below-average means or working 
additional jobs. Furthermore, the future liberty of 
students will improve as they have opportunities to 
pursue higher education at increasing rates and the 
ability to qualify for higher-paying jobs.

Political Feasibility
 Portions of this program are politically feasible. 
Based on the history of the MAEP, it may be di'cult 
to provide fully realized funding (Mitchell 2019). On 
the other hand, the state recently passed the largest 
single-year teacher pay raise in its history, showing 
the issue’s importance in the policy agenda (Ballard 
and Breazeale, 2023). Other southern states have 
implemented service-based scholarship and loan 
forgiveness programs, so this is a potentially feasible 
solution in MS as well (Podolsky & Kini, 2016).

Conclusion
 Historically, Mississippi (MS) has struggled to 
maintain high literacy rates, and it now faces a critical 
educator shortage. In order to increase reading 
pro!ciency and teacher retention, the state should 
make the recommended reforms: increasing teacher 
pay, fully funding the MS Adequate Education 
Program, and providing government-sponsored 
service scholarships to incentivize students to pursue 
careers in education. "ese actions will increase the 
quality of education in MS and therefore increase 
reading pro!ciency levels and teacher retention 
rates.

References
Balingit, M. (2022, September 13). Wanted: Teachers. 

No training necessary. Washington Post. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa-
tion/2022/09/13/teacher-requirements-short-
age-jobs/

Ballard, T., & Breazeale, G. (2023, January 11). 
Eyeing the exit: Teacher turnover and what we can 
do about it. W.K. Kellogg Foundation Issue Lab; 
W.K. Kellogg Foundation. https://wkkf.issuelab.
org/resource/eyeing-the-exit-teacher-turnover-
and-what-we-can-do-about-it.html

Burbridge, L. C. (2008). Can the impact of adequacy-
based education reform be measured? Journal 
of Education Finance, 34(1), 31–55. https://doi.
org/10.2307/40704344

Ganucheau, A. (2022, February 28). Can Mississippi 
a%ord to raise teacher pay and eliminate 
the income tax? Mississippi Today. https://
m i s s i s s ippi t o d ay. or g / 2 0 2 2 / 0 2 / 2 8 / c an -
mississippi-afford-to-raise-teacher-pay-and-
eliminate-the-income-tax/

Hough, H. J., & Loeb, S. (2013, August 1). Can a 
district-level teacher salary incentive policy 
improve teacher recruitment and retention? 
Policy Brief 13-4. ERIC; Policy Analysis for 
California Education, PACE. https://eric.
ed.gov/?id=ED562531

Jones, E. B. (2003, April 1). Public school 
funding in North Carolina. ERIC. https://eric.
ed.gov/?id=ED478742



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Aisthesis      Volume 15,  202473

Kra#, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2020). Public Policy: 
Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives (7th ed.).

Kristof, N. (2023, September 1). America has a 
reading problem. Mississippi has a solution. 
"e New York Times. https://www.nytimes.
com/2023/09/01/opinion/mississippi-schools-
test-scores.html

Lu, A. (2011). "e Mississippi Christmas miracle: 
Explaining the success of the Mississippi 
Education Reform Act of 1982. Harvard 
Undergraduate Library; Harvard College. https://
undergrad.gov.harvard.edu/!les/undergradgov/
!les/amer2.pdf

Mississippi Department of Education. (2002). 
Education Reform Act of 1982. https://da.mdah.
ms.gov/musgrove/pdfs/23586.pdf

Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program. 
(n.d.). METP | Ole Miss; University of Mississippi. 
Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://www.
metp.olemiss.edu

Mitchell, J. (2019, February 22). Separate and 
unequal: For centuries, Mississippi has le# its 
public schools in the hole. "e Clarion-Ledger. 
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/
politics/2019/02/22/public-education-ms-un-
derfunded-centuries-brown-v-board-of-educa-
tion-segregation-school-funding/2910282002/

Moser, M., & Rubenstein, R. (2002). "e equality of 
public school district funding in the United 
States: A national status report. Public 
Administration Review, 62(1), 63–72. https://doi.
org/10.1111/1540-6210.00155

National Education Association. (2022). Research 
& publications. National Education Association. 
https://www.nea.org/research-publications

Parents' Campaign. (n.d.). Education funding. "e 
Parents’ Campaign. https://msparentscampaign.
org/education-funding-2/

Pittman Jr., A. (2017). "e relationship between 
the Mississippi Adequate Education Program 

and student achievement in Mississippi Schools. 
Electronic "eses and Dissertations. https://
egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/516

Podolsky, A., & Kini, T. (2016). How e#ective are 
loan forgiveness and service scholarships for 
recruiting teachers? Learning Policy Institute. 
https://!les.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606351.pdf

Reeves, T., & Presley, B. (2023, November 1). 
Mississippi gubernatorial debate. Jackson, 
Mississippi. WAPT News. https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=dqOxc3VWFm0

"e Mississippi Department of Education. (n.d.). 
Literacy-Based Promotion Act. Mississippi 
Department of Education. https://www.mdek12.
org/OEER/LBPA

"e National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). 
2022 Reading state snapshot report. https://nces.
ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/
stt2022/pdf/2023010MS8.pdf

Appendix
 "e following entry is the transcript of the 
author’s interview with an aspiring educator and 
member of the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching 
Program.

Interviewer: I would like to introduce our 
interviewee. She is a third-year student at "e 
University of Mississippi studying Secondary 
Education and Public Policy Leadership. She is part of 
the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program and 
previously interned with the Delta Health Alliance 
analyzing literacy reforms and improvements at 
Edna Scott Elementary School in Leland, MS. Is all 
that right?

Interviewee: Yes. "ank you. I’m looking forward to 
talking this through with you.
Interviewer: "ank you for your time. So, could you 
tell me a little bit about your internship with Delta 
Health Alliance?

Interviewee: Of course. So, the Delta Health Alliance 
is an organization in the Mississippi Delta that does 
many things. But the part that I interned with them 



Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  2024

was for literacy, speci!cally for third graders, but they 
also do things regarding food insecurity in the Delta, 
health clinics, and di%erent things along those lines. 
But I spent the large part of my summer in Edna 
Scott Elementary School working with third graders 
to kind of assess what the literacy scores for their 
entire class would look like at the end of this next 
school year when they take the literacy assessment.

Interviewer: How would you say that Edna Scott 
Elementary compares to other schools in Mississippi 
or in the Delta?

Interviewee: I would say that from my experience, 
the only other schools that I've seen in Mississippi as 
opposed to Edna Scott have been located in Oxford 
and then in South Mississippi in the Columbia area. 
And I would say there was not a lot of diversity in 
the school district. In the school district I was in, it 
had been a%ected by white $ight. But as far as just 
the teachers there on the content they were covering, 
I really enjoyed the curriculum that we use. It 
was not given to us by the state; it was something 
developed by the Delta Health Alliance, something 
that their literacy fellows kind of use throughout the 
school year. "e area I was in was one of the more 
impoverished areas. I didn't get to see any other 
schools—other elementary schools in the Delta—
really in depth besides Hollandale Elementary, 
which I got to spend one day in a#er my literacy 
camp ended. But I really enjoyed that a lot. I know 
that they were really excited this past summer when I 
got there, because their last class, they had all passed 
that the reading tests that third graders take, which 
was really exciting, because the literacy fellows they 
are given the school's lowest scoring students, and 
getting them all to pass was a huge achievement. 

Interviewer: In comparison to other schools in 
the region, would you say that Edna Scott's literacy 
scores were higher or lower than the average?

Interviewee: I never really got to compare those 
scores to other schools in the area, but we did get to 
compare our group scores to scores from the years 
before at those literacy camps. So basically, what I 
did during the summer is we broke up into groups, 
and we had a lot of di%erent instructional things we 
would do throughout the day, like movement and 
di%erent things we would incorporate into class. But 

when it came to literacy, we divided up into three 
stations. And we had vocabulary, reading pace and 
accuracy, and then a phonetic station. And so we 
had each of these stations kind of tallied up each 
day. And then at the end of the summer, we had this 
big presentation that we would do that we would 
give to the CEO of the Delta Health Alliance. And 
we compared the scores to last year and some years 
before, and they had been higher.

Interviewer: And so as an aspiring educator, I 
would really like to talk about your experience in the 
Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program. How 
has that impacted your desire to go into education, 
education policy or any of those areas? And how has 
that impacted your college experience?

Interviewee: "e Mississippi Excellence in Teaching 
Program (METP), I think, has de!nitely reinforced 
my desire to become an educator. It's a program 
that has placed me in the classroom on the !rst day 
of freshman year. And so I've been able to observe 
teachers and observe those classroom settings. 
And it's kind of just helped me realize early on my 
direction where I think that the typical education 
student doesn't get to see that classroom setting 
until the end of junior year. So that's something I'm 
very much appreciative of. With METP, we take this 
one-hour class each week. Each semester, we're here 
and it focuses on a di%erent topic. But I very much 
enjoy the di%erent speakers that they'll have come in, 
like we've gotten to hear from a former Mississippi 
Governor and people in other places related to 
education policy. I remember speci!cally that class 
that was very policy-centered really impacted me a 
lot – just talking to me about how teachers could be 
involved in policy later on. But METP has given me 
a great network for later on. It's cool to be able to 
talk to people in other cohorts who graduated like 
a few years ago, but I still know that I can ask them 
questions when I'm starting my teaching with this 
cohort aspect. When my cohort, cohort nine, begins 
teaching, we will all just have this community where 
we can be texting each other when we're freaking out 
on that !rst day of school, or we have an issue come 
up throughout the semester. I think that is something 
that will be very important to me surrounding my 
!rst year of teaching. And I'm thankful for METP 
giving me that.

74



Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  2024

Interviewer: "e techniques that you've learned 
from the literacy fellows that you saw in that 
program—are those things you plan to incorporate 
in your own classroom one day?

Interviewee: "is is something I need to think more 
about because third grade is not an age I ever plan 
to teach. So, I know I want to be in high school. 
De!nitely. For some reason, though, I was like ‘these 
kids are so grown up.’ I didn't realize that every third 
grader already has a phone and can probably use it 
better than I can. But I think just learning from the 
teachers themselves and the relationships that they 
had with the students, all these students de!nitely 
came from di%erent backgrounds. "ere was one 
student in particular who just kept on acting out in 
di%erent ways. And just I really admired watching 
the literacy fellow I was placed under just working 
to build a relationship with him and understand, you 
know, what he was feeling and why he was doing 
what he was doing instead of just getting frustrated 
and yelling at him, which I know there are going to be 
students like that at every grade level, and just taking 
the time to work with the student is something that I 
hope I have the patience to do at that point. I plan to 
implement certain instructional elements I learned 
in my own classroom one day.

Interviewer: I'm kind of circling back to METP. Do 
you think service-based scholarships or programs 
like that are an e%ective way to incentivize people to 
go into education?

Interviewee: "at is a great question. I know for 
me, I think it was a huge, huge factor in me wanting 
to teach in the Mississippi Public School System, 
just knowing that. I have another major as well, 
and knowing that METP would pay for both of 
those and anything else I wanted to pursue here, I 
very much was like, ‘I'll go teach for !ve years for 
that.’ With the quality of students I've met in the 
program, I de!nitely think so. Although there is a 
thesis that an METP student completed on how 
e%ective METP is at having educators stay in the 
!eld. And I haven't read it, but someone summarized 
it for me. And I think they said it was low. It was 
done by Abby Johnston if you ever want to look at 
that. But we did have our 10-year reunion like two 
weeks ago. And I will say there were some cohorts, 

or you didn't see a lot of people there. Now, that 10-
year reunion probably did happen at a time where 
there was nothing big going on in Oxford, and they 
weren't going to pay for people's housing. So maybe 
just note that people, the teachers from cohorts that 
have graduated, didn't want to come up here for a 
weekend just for the reunion. But there was a good 
group of people there – just like not everybody. So I 
do believe that shows that there are some people who 
a#er completing the program did not complete those 
!ve years.

Interviewer: And just curious, based on your 
experience in Public Policy Leadership and METP, 
you have a knowledge of the teacher shortage and 
what that looks like in the state. Do you think there's 
a more e%ective way to address that than METP?

Interviewee: I haven't given much thought to that. 
"at’s a great question though. To me, METP seems 
like the program that is best !t to do that. But as far 
as what I can do, what I can see as far as policy goes, I 
think there are lots of ways that the education system 
can be improved including teacher pay, additional 
incentives, and importantly more funding for schools 
in general. I know something with Mississippi right 
now is the funding we have that goes towards poverty 
in our school systems funds all poverty the same 
even though some schools have a larger depth of 
students experiencing poverty than others. And so, 
I know that’s something other southern states have 
changed, but Mississippi has not with our education 
funding formula, our funding formula has only been 
fully funded twice since it was put into place. And so 
really, I think that is one thing that does need to be 
prioritized just to incentivize good teachers to come 
to these areas and teach.

Interviewer: Last question: What do you think about 
states like Oklahoma that no longer require teachers 
to have a college degree as a way of addressing the 
teacher shortage?

Interviewee: I'm going to say I don't—I don't really 
agree with it. I think there are some things that I've 
been able to learn in the classroom. And then also, 
just with my observation hours that I think are 
very important just for being in the classroom. I've 
enjoyed a class this year that taught us the history of 

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Reading Pro!ciency and Teacher Retention in Mississippi

Aisthesis      Volume 15,  2024

education from when it started in the US to now. And 
I think just furthering that education can be helpful 
in the classroom. But now, in my past two years, I've 
observed under teachers who are alternate route 
educators, so they do have college degrees, just not in 
education, and I’ve felt they're phenomenal teachers. 
So, I don't think that needs to fall in education, 
though. I do think like for Math Education majors, 
they're learning math that they are never going to 
teach. And so, I think that's kind of interesting, but 
I'm not a math major. But I don't know how I would 
feel necessarily about learning all these things like 
higher level math concepts that I won't actually be 
using when I enter my classroom, but who knows?

Interviewer: "ank you for this. I really appreciate 
you and your time. 

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