According to National Assessment of Educational Progress ( NAEP ) tests, only 23 percent of Oklahoma fourth grade students were proficient or advanced in reading in 2024. That’s one of the worst rates in the nation.

Oklahoma House lawmakers recently focused on Oklahoma’s reading challenges and considered a plan of action to improve them.

“What we’ve learned from other states is that, in essence, widespread illiteracy is a policy choice,” said state Rep. Rob Hall , R-Tulsa.

Experts told lawmakers they must re-adopt policies previously implemented between 2011 and 2014. Mississippi , which adopted similar policies and stuck to them, has risen from the bottom of national rankings to the top 10 in reading outcomes.

Those policies include a strong third-grade reading law that requires

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