TUPELO – Final results are in and third-grade students in Tupelo nearly matched the statewide average in reading skills, while third-grade students in Lee County, Oxford and Lafayette County exceeded the average, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.
The MDE announced on Nov. 7 that 84.0% of third-graders in Mississippi passed the third-grade reading assessment after the final retest for the 2023-2024 school year.
“While the graduation rate is slightly lower than 2022-23 (84.9%), third graders achieved a record 57.7% in English Language Arts (ELA) for the 2023-24 school year,” the MDE press release said. . “The increased ELA proficiency rate marks a continued upward trend since 2016 (33.6%).”
In the Tupelo Public School District, 83.2% of 2023-2024 third graders passed their exams after the final retakes. That number was 84.7% for the Lee County School District, 86.1% for the Oxford Public School District and 84.3% for the Lafayette County School District.
The Literacy Based Promotion Act (LBPA) – passed in 2013 and amended in 2016 – promotes the reading skills of students in kindergarten through third grade. It requires all third-grade Mississippi public school students to earn a score of “Level 3” or higher on the reading portion of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program – English Language Arts (MAAP-ELA) test in order to advance to the fourth class. Students who don’t pass can also receive “charitable exemptions,” which allow students who are English language learners or have disabilities to advance to fourth grade even without passing the reading assessment.
TPSD and Lee County SD will administer the MAAP-ELA test in April. Students who did not pass the first test were tested again from May 6 to 10. The second retest period was from June 17 to 28.
After the final retakes for the 2022-2023 school year, the state average pass rate was 84.9%, the TPSD rate was 85%, the Lee County SD rate was 89.3%, the OPSD rate was 88.3%, and the Lafayette County SD rate was 85.4%. All four districts’ graduation rates dropped from 2022-23 to 2023-24.
The score drop did not surprise Lee County SD Director of Student Assessment Stephen Adams. The 2023-2024 third graders were in kindergarten in 2020-2021, when most learning was remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A large portion of that cohort of students attended kindergarten from home, and many of them also stayed home through first grade. The MAAP-ELA test results were actually slightly better than Adams expected.
“We were realistic about the results we might see, and we were pleasantly surprised by the results,” Adams said.
Moving forward, Lee County SD is focused on providing teachers with the professional development they need to provide the best education possible for their students. The district hopes and expects that this will improve MAAP-ELA’s performance.
TPSD has shifted third-grade curricula from test preparation to more practical reading skills in the 2023-2024 school year, TPSD Deputy Superintendent Kim Britton said in May after the first round of retakes. The fact that third-graders’ reading test pass rates remained largely stable was an excellent sign.
While state testing is important, Lee County schools are ultimately more focused on overall student success, Adams noted.
“We want these kids to be prepared,” Adams said. “We want them to gain integrity and character every day, and we want them to learn the necessary prerequisites to be successful.”
