The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book shows a plot twist few in state education circles would have bet on a decade ago. Mississippi has climbed into the top 20 on education while Maryland has slipped, leaving policymakers to hash out whether money, policy or measurement is driving the reversal. The latest ranking puts Mississippi at No. 16 and Maryland at No. 20, a flip from ten years back that has reignited arguments over standardized tests, early-literacy rules and accountability.
What the Data Book shows
The 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book, which scores states across multiple child well-being indicators such as preschool access, reading and math proficiency, and on-time graduation, places Mississippi 16th and Maryland 20th. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the revamped index now pairs rankings with underlying scores so readers can see not only where states land but also how far apart they really are. Project Baltimore has highlighted the longer arc: in 2016 Maryland sat at 13th while Mississippi was all the way down at 47th, a reminder of how quickly relative positions can shift.
Mississippi credits steady tests and a reading law
Mississippi’s state superintendent, Dr. Lance Evans, told Project Baltimore that the improvement is not about a sudden miracle but about slow grind and consistency over time. “It’s not a miracle. It’s a marathon,” he said, pointing to two core decisions that state leaders rarely deviated from: keeping assessments stable and maintaining a long-running focus on early reading. In an interview published by WBFF/Project Baltimore, Evans argued that holding tests and standards steady made it easier to track real progress and to hold adults, not students, accountable for results.
Policy changes Mississippi points to
Mississippi lawmakers adopted a literacy-focused promotion law, often called a Read-By-3 or Literacy-Based Promotion policy, that raised expectations for third-grade reading and linked promotion to demonstrated progress. The measure traces back to legislation introduced in the early 2010s, with implementation following soon after. State documents and legislative text for the Literacy-Based Promotion proposals and related bills are available from the Mississippi Legislature, and the Mississippi Department of Education notes that the state has administered the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) since the 2015–16 school year. Officials routinely point to those steady rules and the sustained push on early reading as central pieces of Mississippi’s improvement story.
Maryland’s shifting tests and a graduation-rule change
Maryland, by contrast, has cycled through several testing systems over roughly the same period. The Maryland School Assessment (MSA) was in use around 2014; the state adopted PARCC in 2015, then later transitioned to the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP). State materials describe MCAP as the current accountability assessment, and Maryland State Department of Education documents trace that evolution. Project Baltimore also reported that Maryland plans to move to a new system called M-STAR next year, and that around 2020, the state changed diploma rules so students are no longer required to pass certain state proficiency assessments to graduate, a shift critics say has eased test-linked pressure on schools.
Spending gaps and why money alone does not explain everything
The spending contrast between the two states is hard to miss. Federal data reported in local coverage indicate that Maryland spent about $20,208 per public-school student in 2024, while Mississippi spent roughly $12,324 per student. Those figures, drawn from local outlets and aggregators that report U.S. Census data, highlight how states with very different financial resources can end up with unexpected performance rankings. Research summarized in analyses cited by the National Academies suggests that increased and better-targeted funding can improve outcomes, especially for low-income students, but also underscores that money is only one tool. Long-term reforms, how dollars are deployed, and policies such as early-reading interventions all interact to shape results.
What to watch next
Policy watchers will be keeping an eye on several threads. In Mississippi, the question is whether recent gains hold up as new cohorts of students move through the system and as assessments evolve. In Maryland, attention will be on how the state rolls out its next testing system, whether it sticks with or revises its graduation rules, and how its larger investment program, including any accountability checkpoints tied to that spending, affects outcomes over time. Local coverage and state reports are likely to track any legislative or budget shifts that change how money, staff, and interventions are deployed.
The KIDS COUNT snapshot offers a starting point rather than a verdict. Rankings flag where states are moving up or down, but experts note that the underlying causes typically trace back to years of decisions about tests, early-literacy rules and the way resources are spent, not to a single policy tweak or budget line.
