By Jason C. Mattox

With the release of the 2008-09 state test scores, North Panola School District Conservator Bob Strebeck said the district has nowhere to go but up.

During an interview last Wednesday, Strebeck said he was not happy with the scores, but added that everything is being done to show improvement.

Bright spots in recent scores came in the U.S. History and Biology I areas of the Subject Area Testing Program for North Panola High School students.

Of the 86 students tested in U.S. History, 97.7 percent passed. Only 80 students were tested for Biology I and 86.3 percent of those students passed. Subject area testing is administered to sophomores and juniors in high school.

That shows an increase of 11.4 percent of students passing the U.S. History portion compared to 2008-09. Last year’s numbers also indicated a 4.8 percent decrease in students passing the Biology I portion of the tests.

Third through eighth graders district wide were administered the Mississippi Curriculum Test (Second Edition).

On the Language Arts portion of the test, eighth graders had 27.7 percent testing at proficient.

Third graders, by contrast, had 48.6 percent of students who tested at minimal and 37.3 percent tested at basic.

Across the state, 39 percent of all fourth graders tested scored proficient on the new version of the test.

Eighth graders also had the largest percentage test at proficient or above on the math portion of the test with 39.3 percent.

Fourth graders tested at 46.6 percent at minimal with 31.4 percent at basic on the math portion.

That number shows no improvement over last year’s scores as the group, as third graders scored 46.9 percent minimal and 32.3 percent basic.

Only 22 percent of fourth graders in the district tested at proficient or above in math.

“Obviously we are not happy with these test scores, and realize there is room for improvement,” Strebeck said.

See complete test scores for the North Panola School District at with Mississippi Department of Education’s  Web site.