SP third graders beat state average

By Rupert Howell
South Panola School District’s 3rd graders scored above the state average on the 3rd Grade Reading Assessment (gateway reading test).
Statewide, 92 percent of 3rd graders passed the test. The initial pass rates for the previous two school years was 85 percent in 2014-15 and 87 percent in 2015-16.
State Department of Education figures reveal that 373 3rd graders in the South Panola District were administered the test. At Batesville Intermediate School 304 students were tested with results indicating that more than 95 percent passed. Pope School 3rd grade results also indicated that greater than 95 percent passed of the 69 students taking the test.
“We were very pleased with the results shown by Batesville Intermediate School and Pope School students on the Third Grade Reading Assessment,” SP Superintendent Tim Wilder said. “ The results are a direct reflection of the hard work and effort put forth by the students, parents, teachers and administrators at each of those schools,” he added.
Greenhill Elementary led North Panola School District’s 3rd graders with 92.6 percent of the 68 students taking the test passing. North Panola 3rd grade classes averaged 86.9 passing of 153 total students taking the test. At Como 84.2 percent passed with 57 students taking the test. Of the 28 Crenshaw Elementary School students taking the test, 78.6 passed.
Nearby Lafayette School District 3rd graders had a 92.6 passing rate and Oxford had a similar 92.4. Senatobia had a 93.9 percent passing rate.
The Literacy-Based Promotion Act requires 3rd graders to pass a reading assessment to demonstrate they are ready for 4th grade reading instruction. Students are provided with three opportunities to pass the test.
This school year, the reading portion of the Mississippi Assessment Program (MAP) English Language Arts (ELA) was used to determine 3rd grade promotion. In the previous two school years, a reading test developed by Renaissance Learning was used as the initial test and for both retest opportunities.
That test is now the alternative assessment for students who did not pass the reading test on their first try. Both tests assess the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards of reading for foundational skills, informational text, literature, and language.
Students who did not pass the first reading test are being retested this week. The final retest opportunity will take place between June 26 and August 4.
Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act requires that a student scoring at the lowest achievement level on the 3rd Grade Reading Assessment be retained in 3rd grade, unless the student meets the good cause exemptions specified in the law. Local school districts determine which of their students who did not pass qualify for one of the good cause exemptions for promotion to 4th grade.
The Literacy-Based Promotion Act was amended in 2016 and will require students starting in the 2018-19 school year to score above the lowest two achievement levels in order to be promoted to the 4th grade.