By focusing on phonics, Mississippi's public schools rocketed from 49th place in the nation to ninth

See The ‘Mississippi Marathon’ Is Teaching Kids to Read by Rahm Emanuel. Excerpts:

"The Magnolia State’s reading scores haven’t only bucked the national trend—they’ve been rising for years. Mississippi once ranked 49th in fourth-grade reading. It’s now ninth. Yet the average fourth-grader in Mississippi today outperforms the average fourth-grade Californian. Half of black fourth-graders read at grade level in Mississippi, while barely more than a quarter do in the Golden State."

"What is Mississippi’s secret?" 

"It’s actually very simple and—given that Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama have pursued similar paths—replicable. Mississippi chose to spend less time on topics that dominate Washington’s education agenda and instead maintained a focus on what happens inside the classroom. It focused on the fundamentals."

"It abandoned the hokum that convinced educators that they could teach kids to read through pictures and context clues rather than decoding words. The state restored phonics-based systems that rigorous scientific studies have shown to work."

"the Magnolia State constructed a system to train teachers so that they are effective at teaching students to read."

"It also imposed systems of accountability to ensure that administrators, teachers and students alike meet their marks."

"As Principal Morris [Felica Morris of F.B. Woodley Elementary School] made clear to me, we can’t make progress without measuring it. For all the complaints in my party about “teaching to the test,” Ms. Morris argued that, without accountability, we can’t drive results."