The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) has designated 11 elementary schools as Mississippi Emerging Science of Reading Schools (SOR) for the 2023-24 school year, including two schools in the Vicksburg Warren School District.

This recognition is for schools that have trained teachers in the science of reading, exemplified a change of instructional practices, and embodied a school culture that focuses on building skillful, strong readers in kindergarten through third grade.

All Mississippi K-5 schools are invited annually in the spring to apply for the science of reading recognition.

Seven elementary schools received the designation in 2021-22, and seven received the designation in 2022-23. Schools must reapply to retain the designation.

Vicksburg Warren School District had eight elementary schools apply for the SOR designation.

All eight schools were within a few points of reaching the required threshold for designation from their application.

Two schools exceeded the requirement for SOR designation: Beechwood Elementary School and Bovina Elementary School.

The Science of Reading is a comprehensive body of research that encompasses 50-plus years of scientific knowledge, spans many languages and shares the contributions of experts from relevant disciplines such as education, special education, literacy, psychology, neurology and more.

This research provides the information educators need to gain a deeper understanding of how students learn to read, what skills are involved, how those skills work together and which parts of the brain are responsible for reading development.

From this research, educators can identify an evidence-based best practice approach for teaching foundational literacy skills, also known as Structured Literacy.