About this episode

Anna Stokke interviews Rachel Canter about Mississippi's education turnaround and the policies that contributed to its success.

In this episode, Anna Stokke is joined by Rachel Canter, Director of Education Policy for the Reinventing America’s Schools Project and author of the report Inside the Mississippi Marathon. They explore how Mississippi transformed from one of the lowest-performing states in fourth grade reading and math to one of the highest-performing in the U.S., despite Mississippi being one of the poorest states. They discuss the policies behind the turnaround, including growth-based accountability, early literacy initiatives, higher expectations for students, evidence-based instruction, and being transparent with parents. They also discuss how Mississippi improved education outcomes for some of the most marginalized students and what other jurisdictions can take away from Mississippi’s success. This episode is a must listen for educators, school leaders, policymakers, parents, and anyone interested in learning how sustained, evidence-based reform can improve student outcomes. This episode is available in video at www.youtube.com/@chalktalk-stokke TIMESTAMPS [00:00:22] Introduction [00:04:51] Mississippi’s education system in the 90s [00:10:57] Holding underperforming schools accountable…

More episodes of Chalk & Talk

• How high expectations drive student achievement with Doug Lemov (Ep 75) · July 3, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Mailbag II: Math standards, teacher content knowledge, and more with Jonathan Regino (Ep 74) · June 19, 2026 · 53 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Chalk & Talk podcast page.