Mississippi Passed California in Reading. Here's the Law They Wrote | Ep. 286

American students fell three quarters of a school year behind in reading and math between 2018 and 2025. They now trail China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Canada and Australia. The skills dropping fastest are the ones the AI economy rewards: evaluating sources, connecting information, thinking critically.

Peter Schweizer and Eric Eggers walk through three reports released this month. PISA found "hasty reading" has doubled, with nearly 10% of students now reading fast and wrong. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute found 76% of high schoolers use school devices for something other than school every day, and 26% use AI during quizzes and tests. The GAO found 19% of districts closed a school last year over a plumbing failure, a flood, or a 110-degree classroom.

Then there's Mississippi. Long ranked at the bottom, it copied Florida's third-grade reading law, set a passing threshold students have to clear, and tested new elementary teachers on the science of reading. Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in reading and sits well ahead of California.

The countries holding their scores steady share one trait: stricter device discipline in the classroom.

(00:00) Mississippi is excelling and California is not (01:43) PISA: US scores fall three quarters of a year of learning (02:33) "Hasty reading" doubles, and the countries it skipped (05:08) Chromebooks stay at school, LA County caps devices at 10 hours a week (06:26) Fordham: 76% admit daily illicit device use, 26% use AI on tests (07:47) The technology was built for the teacher, not the student (09:08) GAO: 1 in 5 districts closed a school over facilities (09:58) The problem is not money, it's the approach (11:57) Mississippi copies Florida's third-grade reading law (15:16) 44% of below-average SAT scorers get A's

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