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For a long time, the national conversation about education in Mississippi was one of struggle. Yet in the last few years, a new narrative has emerged, one that news reporters across the country are calling the "Mississippi Miracle." Since 2013, the state has undergone a historic transformation, rising from the bottom of national rankings to becoming a leader in 4th-grade reading progress. (Source: How Mississippi Transformed Schools from Worst to Best, New York Times, 2026) At ReadWorks, we know this wasn't a miracle; it was the result of thousands of teachers and state leaders rolling up their sleeves to embrace and implement the science of reading into instruction. However, as any teacher will tell you, the work is far from over. We know Mississippi sparks a particular curiosity because of its high poverty rate, rural school districts, and limited funding for instructional materials. This story brings hope that leadership, organization, and access- in addition to financial investment - can drive change. The Importance of Access to ReadWorks in Mississippi: Removing the "Price Tag" from Progress Each year, more than 7,000 reading specialists and paraprofessionals (20% of Mississippi educators) use ReadWorks; 87% work in schools serving student populations where at least 75% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, the population Readworks is most focused on as a nonprofit. This is significant because ReadWorks is able to provide resources that are typically high-cost for free. Resources such as nonfiction decodable texts—short articles that help emerging readers practice specific letter sounds. These are essential tools for reading instruction, yet they are often priced as luxury items. A single classroom set can cost a school over $4,000. (Source: Decodables.com) Thanks to the support of The Chisholm Foundation, which specifically funds ReadWorks’ outreach to Mississippi, here are a few key ways ReadWorks has made an impact across the state:
"ReadWorks has helped me with the start of teaching. It also helps with finding out what level my students are on." Deeping District Partnerships: In partnership with the Laurel, MS School District, ReadWorks is embarking on a deep, multi-year research initiative to understand exactly how digital tools can best support students in high-poverty communities. The Laurel project represents our most significant commitment yet. We aren’t just providing content; we are providing the "human infrastructure" to make it work.
Written by: Melissa CalderDirector of Marketing and Engagement at ReadWorks
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In the dynamic landscape of education technology, understanding the needs and preferences of our community of educators allows us to better meet the needs of teachers and students. Every two years, we conduct a comprehensive survey to gain valuable insights into the thoughts of our teachers, reading specialists, administrators, and parent users. The results are in, and we're excited to share them with you!
The survey is a pulse on trends and highlights from our educator community. The response was overwhelming, with nearly 7,000 participants providing feedback to help move us forward. One key difference between the 2025 and the 2023 survey is our focus on collecting responses from the communities we most serve: educators teaching in lower-income schools and districts. We met our goal of hearing from than 50% of educators who teach in schools with 75% or more of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. User Satisfaction: A whopping 95% of respondents expressed satisfaction with our services and would recommend ReadWorks to a colleague. 92% of all respondents said that FREE reading comprehension resources are important to their community. We are thrilled to know that our efforts at continual improvement and our commitment to ensuring access for all, always, align with what our users need.
2025 ReadWorks National Survey Results by Melissa Calder
Areas for Improvement: While the overall satisfaction is high, the survey also highlighted a continuous area of need for our users: time. Teachers are still short on time to learn about additional tools to supplement their curricula. This constructive feedback is invaluable for improving the simplicity of our communications and ease of onboarding for new users.
Actionable Insights: These valuable insights from our community have already led to updates and enhancements that you can watch for in the new year!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey. Your input is invaluable, and we look forward to evolving together based on the insights gained. Stay tuned for even more exciting developments in 2026! Written by: Melissa Calder, Director of Marketing and Engagement Happy New Year from ReadWorks! Like educators and students across the country, our team is off and running in 2026 with updates and news to share. We are grateful for supporters like you who make our work possible. Thank you!
Winners were announced January 22, 2026, at BETT, the world’s biggest EdTech event connecting 35,000+ educators, policymakers, and industry changemakers from 130 countries. ReadWorks is honored and proud to be selected!
This new initiative provides free resources for K-2 instructors to conduct action research on building early reading skills in their classrooms. Teachers participating will also contribute to broader knowledge on effectively integrating and selecting decodables to benefit more young readers.
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Missed an issue of our newsletter? See an archive of all our supporter updates here. Have ideas for what you would like to see in our updates or have additional questions? Please email [email protected].
Empowering Early Literacy Educators: A Focus on Knowledge and Data ReadWorks recently conducted a hands-on professional development session for 1st and 2nd-grade teachers at PS 69 in Queens, NY. The workshop focused on effectively combining Article-A-Day and Nonfiction Decodables to strengthen early literacy, build background knowledge, and target phonics skills simultaneously. Participants left the session more confident in using our free tools and resources. They also learned how to translate student assessment scores into practical classroom strategies and developed personalized action plans and differentiation strategies for their own classrooms. In line with our commitment to reaching students in under-resourced communities, ReadWorks is dedicated to providing free, high-quality learning sessions to Title 1 schools, ensuring teachers have the support needed to help readers of all levels achieve success. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please visit: https://about.readworks.org/freepd.html Partnership with Purpose ReadWorks partners with world-class organizations to improve reading outcomes for students by providing high-quality and essential content in their areas of expertise, and expanding vocabulary, subject knowledge, and understanding. Our long-term collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has reached more than 2.8 million students who engaged with dynamic passages on a wide variety of topics about the environment, science, animals, and more. This recent Article-A-Day and corresponding question set discusses the migration of the River Herring. Read more about ReadWorks’ content partners who help us bring non-fiction topics to life for readers of all ages. ReadWorks wishes all of our supporters a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy new year. We couldn’t provide our free resources to teachers and students without you!  Missed an issue of our newsletter? See an archive of all our updates here. Have ideas for what you would like to see in our updates? Please email
 A recent professional development session brought together the dedicated first and second grade teachers at PS 69Q in District 30, NYC, for a hands-on collaboration focused on strengthening early literacy instruction. Participants, representing a wide range of teaching experience and familiarity with the ReadWorks platform, engaged in strategies to meet a singular objective: to seamlessly blend effective, high-quality content tools with data-driven planning for targeted student intervention. This approach ensures that every student receives the precise support they need to build foundational reading comprehension skills. Professional Development Session: Building Knowledge and Decoding Skills A key focus was to ensure that the educators felt confident in leveraging the free materials to simultaneously build background knowledge and target phonics skills. Together we explored just two of many ReadWorks tools. It was important to identify the tools that would best meet the educators current goals for their students. Article-A-Day: Educators were excited about this program that can be easily integrated into daily routines to consistently expose students to a variety of nonfiction topics, building the crucial knowledge base that supports overall comprehension. ReadWorks Nonfiction Decodables: A powerful dual approach that provides engaging informational texts while systematically reinforcing the specific phonics patterns students are learning. Educators learned how to utilize the decodable texts during whole-group and small-group instruction for more impact on student improvement. Data-Informed InterventionsEffective teaching relies on timely, accurate student data. Having the professional development time was significant to discuss how to translate assessment results into practical strategies to build literacy skills.
 Hands-On Planning for Literacy CentersThe most dynamic part of the session was the dedicated work and planning time. Teachers were actively engaged in creating plans they could use immediately. They learned how to set up specific activities to build knowledge, vocabulary, and practice decoding.
Professional Development with ReadWorks The PS 69Q first- and second-grade teams brought incredible creativity and commitment to their recent ReadWorks professional development session. ReadWorks is excited to see how these new strategies and resources support meaningful growth and joyful reading for their young learners this year. Did you know Title I schools can receive free, high-quality professional development from ReadWorks? Send us a quick email at [email protected] to learn more about our free and paid PD options. Written by: Tamika Reece, Senior Learning Partnerships Project Manager |
