Both Meridian and Lauderdale County public school districts increased their passing percentages on the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDOE) Third-Grade Gateway Assessment on literacy. The test judges proficiency in reading comprehension.

    The city and county school districts issued on Monday the results of the first retest held in late May. All public school third-graders from Mississippi took the initial literacy test in April. All students, unless they are granted a good cause exemption, must pass the third-grade reading test in order to be promoted to the fourth grade.

    Meridian Public School District Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor said his district improved the percentage of students passing the test to 88 percent when good cause exemptions are figured in, compared to the 82 percent who passed the assessment on the first try.

    Taylor was pleased with the improvement, but added more intensive instruction is needed for about 60 students who still need to pass the test.

    “At the conclusion of the first re-test, 86 percent of the students in the Meridian Public School District passed the Third-Grade Gateway Assessment,” Taylor said in a statement. “The 14 percent of students that have not passed the test does not include students who will be eligible for good cause exemptions. As of right now, including the good cause exemptions, about 88 percent of our students would be promoted to the fourth grade.

    “There is still another re-test opportunity for the 60 MPSD students that need to pass. The Mississippi Department of Education requires that students attend summer school before allowing to take the final re-test, so we would like to remind parents of students who have not passed to make sure their child is attending summer school,” Taylor said.    

    Taylor said he is confident that most of the remaining students that still need to pass the test will do so on the final re-test in July. Summer school for MPSD students began on June 1 and will conclude July 17. There will be a one-week break, from June 29-July 3.

    “We are very happy with the progress that we are making,” Taylor said. “Our students, teachers and administrators are hard at work in summer school, and our goal is for all of the students to pass the final re-test.”

    Lauderdale County School District Superintendent Randy Hodges said his students improved from 91 percent passage to 96 percent after the first re-test. He said an additional 15 students passed the test, including every student at Southeast Lauderdale Elementary School.

    “We’re very proud of what Southeast Lauderdale accomplished,” Hodges said. “Overall, we had 15 more pass the test to bring overall passing to 96 percent. Our teachers and administrators continued their plan with the process that we had in place.”

    Terri Edwards, Lauderdale County District’s test coordinator, said 28 students who have yet to pass the assessment are in summer school at Northeast Lauderdale Elementary School.

    “These students are receiving intensive, individual instruction in summer school that began on June 8 and will run until July 10,” Edwards said. “They will all re-test for the last time at the end of the term.”

    According to the Associated Press, more than 2,000 third-graders passed the test on the second try, and that leaves more than 3,400 students statewide who are at risk of being left in the third grade, by the state’s count. The Third-Grade Assessment was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Phil Bryant in 2013.