On nearly every important measure of academic success, Oklahoma now sits at the bottom.
That hasn’t always been the case.
In the 1990s, Oklahoma ranked in the top half of states in reading and math, but began to fall in 2000. The slide quickened from 2015 to 2024 as Oklahoma dropped from 37th to 48th.
“People in our state have always said things like 'thank God for Mississippi,' meaning that otherwise our schools would be in last place,” said Adam Tyner, a researcher at the Oklahoma Center for Education Policy.
As Oklahoma fell in the rankings, Mississippi has soared, from dead last to around the middle.
Using federal data, Tyner documented Oklahoma’s educational decline in a report released this month: The Fall to 48th. The report shows Oklahoma’s student outcomes are at the lowest level on record, ahead of only West Virginia, Alaska and New Mexico.
Websites such as WalletHub and U.S. News and World Report ranked Oklahoma similarly near the bottom of states, using formulas built on dozens of metrics.
Tyner’s report focused on one: the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as NAEP, or the Nation’s Report Card. It’s regarded as the gold standard of measuring student learning outcomes, and is consistent across states and over time.
To simplify the analysis, Tyner used a pooled measure of math and reading scores.
Among the 12 Southeastern Conference states, Oklahoma ranked last. Tennessee was first; Mississippi was fourth.
Oklahoma had outranked Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee every year until 2013. But those states have pulled ahead in what some have dubbed a “Southern Surge.”
Mississippi rose from 50th or near 50th in the 1990s to 2013 to 28th. The state’s progress earned the moniker the “Mississippi Miracle.”
“It took Mississippi decades of being a national punchline to make real progress in their state, but for the sake of Oklahoma's students, I sure hope it doesn't take us that long,” Tyner said.
Comparing scores for students who are demographically similar, Oklahoma’s rank in reading improves. The Urban Institute, a think tank, publishes a NAEP data analysis that sorts states by which are punching above their weight based on the students they serve, said Kristen Bragg, a researcher at The Urban Institute.
“We know academic performance often correlates with family income,” Bragg said. “We thought if we try to account for that, will the rankings change?”
In fourth-grade reading, Oklahoma rose 19 spots, from 46th to 27th. In eighth-grade math, Oklahoma improved just seven spots, from 45th to 40th.
Mississippi soared to the number one spot in both.
How did Mississippi do it?
In 2000, private donors gave $100 million to create a program to boost Mississippi children’s reading skills. Thirteen years later, the state’s legislature passed a major literacy reform bill, introducing new requirements for schools, including accountability measures, literacy screening, interventions, and, most controversially, third-grade retention.
The initiatives beefed up support for teachers by deploying teams of literacy and math coaches hired by the state and by providing professional development in the science of reading.
Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama implemented similar changes, investing in teacher training and improved curriculum.
Oklahoma policymakers have indicated enthusiasm for similar reforms.
Reinstating third-grade retention is included in several bills this year, including proposals from House and Senate leaders. A pilot program for literacy coaches, HEROES, has been in place for three years. Senate Bill 1338 would make the program permanent and expand it at a cost of $10 million.
Other legislative proposals would fund math coaches and curriculum and provide individualized reading materials for all first-grade students.
One big question is how to pay for those initiatives. Senate Republican leaders on Tuesday unveiled a plan to divert taxpayer money from the Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement System to pay for literacy programs and other education priorities, but it hasn’t yet been considered by the Senate, House or governor. They want to redirect $254 million out of an estimated $454 million going to the pension system, which is funded at 82% of its projected needs.
That would raise Oklahoma’s per-student spending without requiring new revenue, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said Tuesday. Oklahoma ranked 49th in per-pupil spending, spending less than every state except Utah and Idaho, at $11,311 per pupil, according to the 2023-24 data from the National Education Association, which is the most recent available. Mississippi was 45th, Louisiana was 19th, Tennessee was 44th and Alabama was 41st.
Oklahoma’s Bright Spots
Superintendent Jay Edelen didn’t dwell on the state’s education ranking.
“The state may be ranked 50th, but we’re really good at what we do here,” said Edelen, the superintendent at Arapaho-Butler Public School, about 85 miles west of Oklahoma City. “I would put our teachers and staff and students up against anybody in the country.”
Edelen, who’s from a family of educators including his grandparents, parents and his wife, shared Arapaho-Butler’s secret sauce: Experienced teachers; stellar student attendance; small classes; and a superintendent willing to act a little silly sometimes.
“Maybe that makes them want to come to school, and if they come to school, we have teachers that are doing an amazing job teaching them,” Edelen said.
According to the Education Data Center, more than 54% of third-grade students scored at least proficient on the 2025 state tests, double the state average.
Mangum is another bright spot in the state’s education landscape, according to an analysis by The 74, a nonprofit news outlet covering education. At Edison Elementary, 73% of third-grade students scored proficient in reading.
One of the school’s ingredients for success is a transitional grade between kindergarten and first, said Principal Brent Bogart. The class is a stopgap after kindergarten, where students receive an extra year of instruction in a small class of 10 to 12 students led by a high-quality teacher. Students in the transitional grade still attend lunch, recess and specials with other first-grade students, which Bogart said helps sell parents on the idea.
Edison Elementary also uses 90-minute blocks for core subjects such as reading and math, giving students more time to master new skills.
And, Bogart said, they make an effort to celebrate their teachers every week with a catered breakfast or lunch or other tokens of appreciation.
“I 100% trust our teachers and treat them as professionals,” he said. “This job is hard, and we’re so grateful to them.”
This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.