STATE FUNDING GUIDE

Mississippi

Mississippi’s LBPA drives K-3 screening, intervention for students with reading deficiencies, and the third-grade reading gate. The Legislature funds it annually, but most support flows as state-provided services — MDE literacy coaches, science-of-reading professional development, and screener reimbursement — rather than district block grants for materials. In 2026, SB 2294 extended evidence-based literacy requirements into grades 4-8 and banned three-cueing, expanding the intervention mandate into upper elementary. For curriculum purchases themselves, districts typically use federal Title I/IDEA alongside these state supports.

Literacy-Based Promotion Act (2013), extended in 2026 by SB 2294 (grades 4-8 adolescent literacy framework)

How schools fund reading intervention in Mississippi

The state-level programs below are the streams Mississippi districts most often use for evidence-based reading intervention purchases, alongside the federal streams available everywhere.

LBPA annual state appropriation

Funds state literacy coaches, science-of-reading professional development, and reimbursement to districts for required K-3 screeners; districts benefit through services and screener reimbursement rather than direct materials grants, so intervention curriculum purchases are usually paired with federal Title I/IDEA funds.

SB 2294 adolescent literacy framework (2026)

Requires evidence-based, science-of-reading-aligned literacy practices and supports for grades 4-8 statewide; no dedicated district purchasing fund identified yet, but it creates a compliance need for evidence-based upper-elementary interventions.

Approved-list note: MDE’s intervention services office maintains an approved list of evidence-based academic interventions for Tier II/III students, and the state maintains state-adopted instructional materials lists.

Official state resource →