LIBERTY — Amite County school board trustees on Thursday heard results of the state-mandated third-grade gate testing.
Third grade students across the state are required to take tests to determine if they will pass on to the fourth grade or be held back a grade. Amite County third-graders so far have taken two of three tests.
On the first test, Superintendent Scotty Whittington reported that 78 percent of students passed and 17 failed. This spring, seven more students passed on the retest, or 87 percent of the third-grade class.
“We drilled those kids for two weeks. And we’ve shown some real improvement,” he said.
The 10 students who failed both tests will have one more chance to move on to the fourth grade. Students will be given a remediation summer course before the test to help them pass.
Gov. Phil Bryant signed the third-grade reading gate bill into law in 2013, citing concern over the education of Mississippi elementary students nationally, particularly in reading and comprehension.
The school is required to inform the parent or legal guardian of the student’s academic progress and must provide instruction to students who “exhibit substantial deficiency in reading.”
Part of remediation efforts to improve students’ literacy and comprehension skills includes starting early with kindergarten students, Whittington said.
The results topped 120 school districts in the state, but showed less improvement than 21 districts. Test scores increased by 209 points, from 455 to 664, Whittington noted.
In other news, a recent report from U.S. News and World Report selected Amite County High School as a bronze medal winner in its annual high school rankings. The national study considered 29,070 public high schools across the nation. It awarded 94 high schools from Mississippi. There are 453 public high schools in Mississippi. Pass Christian High was the only state high school to earn a silver medal in the report.
“We scored in the top 94. That’s out of 453 public high schools. So we are doing some things right,” Whittington said.
