The Mississippi Department of Education on Tuesday released every school district’s performance percentage scores for math and reading for the 2013-2014 school year. The Mississippi Curriculum Test tests students in third through eighth grade.
In the Lowndes County School District, 39 percent of third graders scored proficient in reading. Nearly 50 percent of third graders scored proficient in math.
In the Columbus Municipal School District, 33 percent of third graders scored proficient in the subject. Forty-two percent scored proficient in math.
In the Starkville School District, 31 percent of third graders scored proficient in reading. In the Oktibbeha County School District, 38 percent of third graders scored proficient.
CMSD Superintendent Philip Hickman was not pleased with the results. Noting the scores were by Mississippi standards and not Common Core standards, Hickman said, “I’m not happy. I’m not happy at all. I really think that we owe our children a better quality education than what we’ve been providing.”
Lowndes County Superintendent Lynn Wright had the opposite reaction. Wright was extremely pleased with the way students performed and expects the district to maintain their B rating. Students and teachers have been transitioning to Common Core standards for the past two years in the Lowndes County District, and Wright noted that students were tested on material they may have not necessarily been prepared for.
“Everybody was moving toward the Common Core curriculum and moving toward the new assessment but we still had to have to take the old test which was not in line with the new curriculum,” Wright said. “With that in mind, we’re really proud of our scores. We will maintain our B level.”
The 2013-2014 school year was the last year students were tested on the Mississippi Curriculum Test.
The letter grades for each school will be released Sept. 19.
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Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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