Everyone likes good news, so it’s no wonder that when Mississippi went from being ranked second-worst in 2013 for fourth grade reading scores to 21st in 2022, the media kept using the m-word. “Everybody keeps on calling this a miracle,” says Dr. Jill Dent, executive director, Early Childhood Education, Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). “But we have worked really hard, and we were very intentional.”