Among highest rates in state
The Mississippi Department of Education is announcing that 73.9% of 31,068 Mississippi third-graders received a passing score in April on the initial administration of the third-grade reading assessment for the 2021-22 school year.
The passing rate for the Webster County School District was 90.1%. By school, the passing rate was more than or equal to 95% at East Webster Elementary and 83.1% at Eupora Elementary.
Webster County Schools tweeted this statement after the test results were released: “Congratulations to our 3rd Grade Students, Teachers & Administrators for placing 4th in the State with a 90.1% pass rate on the 3rd Grade Reading Assessment this Spring! We are so proud of you all!”
The passing rate presents a preliminary snapshot of third-graders’ literacy proficiency as schools emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time Mississippi third-graders took the assessment in a normal school year was April 2019 when 74.5% of 34,998 students passed the initial test.
“The hard work of teachers, students and parents to overcome academic setbacks caused by the pandemic is paying off. The initial pass rate on this year’s third-grade reading assessment is nearly the same as the pre-pandemic pass rate,” said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education. “I celebrate this accomplishment and acknowledge there’s more work to be done.”
In accordance with the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, third-graders who do not pass the initial administration of the reading test are given up to two attempts to retest. After the final retest in 2019, 85.6% of third-graders passed the test. Students did not test in 2020 because of the pandemic. The test was given in 2021, but the passing requirement was waived so no retests were administered.
The LBPA became law in 2013 to improve reading skills of kindergarten through third-grade students in public schools so every student completing the third grade is able to read at or above grade level. The LBPA requires Mississippi third-graders to pass a reading assessment to qualify for promotion to fourth grade. An amendment to the law in 2016 raised reading-level expectations starting in the 2018-19 school year, requiring third-graders to score at level 3 or higher on the reading portion of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program English Language Arts assessment.
Students who did not pass the reading assessment on their first attempt last month were retested May 9-13. The second retest window is June 20-July 8. Some students may qualify for good-cause exemptions to be promoted to fourth grade.
Final district-level pass rates will be published this fall in the Literacy-Based Promotion Act Annual Report of Performance and Student Retention for the 2021-22 school year.
