Oxford Districts Perform above Average on First Literacy-Based Promotion Assessment

The test scores are back from Mississippi’s first statewide reading assessment required for promotion to fourth grade, and the two Oxford school districts are among the best scores in the state.

Oxford School District boasts a 91 percent pass rate at Della Davidson Elementary School, and Lafayette County School District recorded a 94 percent pass rate in the upper elementary school, both far above the state average.

Overall, 85 percent of the third graders tested passed the reading assessment, with 5,612 students falling below par. Forty-four of the state’s 155 districts saw 20 percent of more third-graders fail, with some individual schools reporting failing rates above half.

Yazoo County Municipal School District saw 47 percent of their students fail the test, the highest of any district in Mississippi. Wilkinson County had a 43 percent fail rate, Holmes County marked 41 percent, and Hazlehurst saw 39 percent of its students fail. Greenville Public Schools had a 37 percent fail rate, with 41 percent of Trigg Elementary students, 42 percent of Boyd Elementary students and 53 percent of Webb Elementary third graders falling short.

In the Jackson Public School District in the stater’s capital, 72 percent of the students passed. Two schools, Davis Magnet School and McWillie Elementary School, recorded perfect scores while 47 percent of Raines Elementary School students failed and 48 percent in Sykes Elementary and Dawson Elementary respectively.

Based on the requirements of the Literacy-Based Promotion Act passed by the state legislature in 2013, students must be above the “lowest achievement level in reading” to be promoted to the fourth grade regardless of other test scores or classroom assignment grades.

Students who failed the assessment could be struggling in answering questions about the text, determining the central message, describing characters or applying phonics to decode words. They will have the opportunity to be reassessed before the school year ends and over the summer.

For more information on the results, visit the Mississippi Department of Education website.

Amelia Camurati is editor of HottyToddy.com and can be reached at amelia.camurati@hottytoddy.com.