Third-graders in the Lowndes County School District continued to outperform the average on the first round of the state reading assessment this year, with 86% of students passing on the first try, compared to the state average of 75.6%.
Meanwhile, students in the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District fell just shy of the state average with 74.3% of students passing – a 6.29% increase compared to last year’s pass rate.
The pass rate for the Columbus Municipal School District increased by roughly less than 1% from last year’s scores, though only 60.4% of third-graders passed the initial assessment.
The Mississippi Department of Education requires third-graders in the state to pass the reading assessment to be promoted to the fourth grade. MDE released the initial test scores Thursday in a press release, but there are more to come.
Students who fail the first test have two opportunities to retest before the next school year, with the first having already been given. The second retest is scheduled for the end of June. The average pass rate for each district will likely increase with each retest.
These initial test results don’t account for good cause exemptions. These exemptions are given to third-graders who do not meet the test requirements but can be promoted due to other circumstances, according to MDE. That includes limited English proficient students with less than two years of instruction in an English learner program, students who were previously held back for at least two years or students with disabilities whose Individualized Education Program indicates participating in testing is not appropriate.
LCSD
The overall pass rate for LCSD students increased about 4.24% from last year.
Caledonia Elementary School had the highest pass rate in the district at 92.6%, an increase of about 4.63% from 2025.
New Hope Elementary followed with an 86% pass rate, up 7.76% from last year. Meanwhile, West Lowndes Elementary saw a decrease of about 6.74%, with 62.2% students passing the initial assessment.
LCSD Superintendent Sam Allison did not return requests for comment by press time.
SOCSD
While SOCSD did not quite meet the state average, its schools outperformed scores from the initial assessment in 2025.
West Elementary saw a pass rate of 85.7%, an increase of roughly 18.69% from last year. Meanwhile, Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary’s 73.1% pass rate was up about 4.87% compared to last year.
Haley Montgomery, director of communications for SOCSD, said the reading assessment scores reflected students’ and teachers’ hard work, attributing the overall pass rate increase to the district’s focus on early-year literacy.
“Over the last three years, the district has put a stronger focus on literacy starting in kindergarten, and we believe that has made a big impact,” Montgomery wrote in a statement to The Dispatch on Thursday. “By working more strategically with younger students, by the time they get to 3rd grade, we are seeing fewer deficiencies. … We have also begun implementing more small group time in our classrooms to allow for more individualized instruction and help students with specific literacy skills.”
CMSD
No CMSD elementary school met the state average, and all but one saw a decrease from last year’s initial score report.
Stokes-Beard Elementary saw an increase of about 36.79% from last year, with 60.6% of students passing the initial assessment.
While Cook Elementary had the district’s highest pass rate at 63.8%, it marked a 7.8% decrease from the first test in 2025. At Fairview Elementary, 56.8% of third-graders passed on the first try, a 10.97% drop from last year.
Sale Elementary had the lowest pass rate in the district with 56.3% of students meeting the testing requirements, a 10.63% decrease from the initial assessment in 2025.
CMSD Public Information Officer Joey Barnes declined to comment Thursday on the scores, citing the district is still exploring the data.
Clay and Noxubee
WPCSD saw an overall decrease of nearly 10% in its pass rates compared to last year, with 60.9% of students passing the initial assessment.
South Side Elementary had the highest pass rate of the two schools at 60.9% – an 8.96% decrease from last year’s reported scores. At West Clay Elementary, 60% of third-graders passed on the first try, a 22.87% drop from last year.
NCSD saw a 1.8% drop in its pass rates from last year, with 49.1% of third-graders at Earl Nash Elementary passing on the first try.
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