The Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District’s third graders had the fifth-lowest passing rate in Mississippi on a state-mandated annual test that assesses whether they can read well enough to advance to fourth grade.
The Mississippi Department of Education released the scores from all elementary schools statewide Thursday.
The Greenwood Leflore district’s passing rate was 40.4%. In its five elementary schools, the rate ranged from 62.3% at Bankston Elementary to 19.7% at Threadgill Elementary.
Carroll County’s district has one elementary school, Marshall, in North Carrollton. At that school, 50.7% of the third graders passed.
The concern focuses on students who, according to the test results, have not met the requirements to move on to grade 4. In the Greenwood Leflore district, the rate of failure was 59.6%. In the Carroll district, it was 49.3%, and statewide, it was 26.1%.
Those who did not score high enough on the test, which was given in April, had the chance to take it again earlier this month, according to the Mississippi Department of Education. Those who still must pass the test will have a third chance in June.
The only districts with lower passage rates than Greenwood Leflore were Humphreys County, 29.3%; Holmes County, 34.7%; Yazoo City, 35.7%; and Noxubee County, 38.5%.
Statewide, the passing rate was 73.9%, representing 31,068 third graders, the Department of Education reported. In 2019, 74.5% of Mississippi third graders passed. Because of the pandemic, the test was not given in 2020. In 2021, the test was given, but a student’s score did not determine whether he or she would advance to the next grade.
In 2019, the Greenwood and Leflore public school systems had not yet consolidated. At that time, the passing rate was roughly 50% in the Greenwood Public Schools and 40% in the Leflore County Schools. In the Carroll district, it was just under 50%.
Dr. Mary Brown, superintendent of the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District, did not immediately respond to a request for more information, including the number of students tested and the number who face the possibility of remaining in the third grade.
Marshall’s principal, Khalilah Tate, said 67 third graders took the test in April. This month, 27 were retested, and 10 passed.
“We are still working to close the gap,” she said, referring to the effects of closing schools for in-person learning because of the pandemic.
Other passing rates in nearby districts included 88% in the Grenada School District and 69.8% in the Winona-Montgomery County Consolidated District. Districts in Ocean Springs, Clinton and Choctaw County all had passing rates greater than 90%.
To read a complete list of Mississippi results, go to mdek12.org/OPR/Reporting/Assessment/2021-22.
- Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
READING TEST RESULTS:
Greenwood Leflore Consolidated District
District: 40.4% passing; 59.6% failing
Bankston Elementary: 62.3% passing; 37.7% failing
Davis Elementary: 47.9% passing; 52.1% failing
East Elementary: 39.7% passing; 60.3% failing
Leflore Co. Elementary: 43.8% passing; 56.3% failing
Threadgill Elementary: 19.7% passing; 80.3% failing
Carroll County District
Marshall Elementary: 50.7% passing; 49.3% failing
Statewide
Mississippi: 73.9% passing; 26.1% failing
