The state reading assessment scores of local third graders within the public school districts after the final retest have been released with 88.5 percent of Yazoo County District students passing. Third graders within the Yazoo City School District saw an improvement with their retests as well with 56.2 percent passing.
Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act requires third graders to achieve a passing score of Level 3 or higher on the reading portion of the state’s ELA assessment to qualify for promotion to fourth grade.
When Yazoo County third graders first took the initial test, 75.4 percent passed. The retest showed an increase to 88.5 percent passing.
When Yazoo City third graders first took the initial test, 36.8 percent passed. The retest also showed an increase to 56.2 percent passing.
The assessment has five levels. Students who score at Level 4 are considered proficient; Level 5 is advanced. Based on the level assessment, most county students scored at a level of 4. Most city students scored at a level of 2.
Statewide, 84 percent of third graders passed the third-grade reading assessment after the final retest. Though the pass rate is slightly lower than 2022-23 (84.9%), third graders achieved an all-time high proficiency of 57.7% in English Language Arts (ELA) for the 2023-24 school year. The increased ELA proficiency rate marks a continuous upward trend since 2016 (33.6%).
The Literacy-Based Promotion Act, enacted in 2013, was created to help ensure kindergarten through third-grade students develop good reading skills. The law was amended in 2016 to raise the passing score on the third-grade reading test starting in the 2018-19 school year.
Families can visit strongreadersms.com for resources to help children build reading skills at home.
