Lafayette County School District sees improvements with MAAP results

Published 8:00 am Thursday, August 22, 2019

Last week the Mississippi Department of Education released the results of the 2018-19 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, which showed student achievement reached an all-time high in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics across the state.

Local school districts saw an increase in proficiency as well, including Lafayette County. After crunching the numbers and analyzing test results, Lafayette County School District discovered they achieved growth in student proficiency in a multitude of areas.

Grades 3 through 8 were administered ELA and mathematics exams, as were Algebra 1 and English II high school classes across Mississippi.

Email newsletter signup

In the mathematics category, Lafayette placed among the state’s best, with the third and seventh-grade math scores ranking third in proficiency. In 2018, the third grade math proficiency was at 50 percent; in 2019 that increased to 75.40 percent. The seventh grade average moved up four percentage points from 73 in 2018 to 77.30 this year. Algebra I also finished top-five in the state with a proficiency of 79.2 percent.

“As a school district, we continue to strive to raise the level of proficiency in all of the core tested subjects as well as providing a balanced, well-rounded educational experience,” assistant superintendent Patrick Robinson said.

Lafayette did see a drop in proficiency from last year to this year but Robinson said they were pleased with the results of the new assessment that was given. In 2018 the proficiency percentages for fifth grade, eighth grade and Biology I ranged from 80 to 82 percent. This year those numbers ranged from 60 to 70 percent with fifth grade dropping 20 percentage points.

“(We) are looking forward to continued growth with our teachers and students regarding new standards and assessment,” Robinson said.