Mississippi student test results are out in 4 subjects. Here’s how Coast districts scored.
Students who attend Mississippi Coast public schools earned high scores in four school subjects, according to new data released Thursday, and results showed successes in some districts but challenges in others.
The Mississippi Department of Education data scores students on English language arts, math, science and U.S. History.
This year, the program ranked four Mississippi Coast districts high in student achievement. Long Beach School District and Ocean Springs School District both made “overall top 10” for scores in each of the four subjects.
“Our students, teachers, and administrators work hard day in and day out to reach the highest levels of learning and achievement,” Long Beach Superintendent Talia Lock said in a news release announcing the results.
Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District and Biloxi Public School District also made “top 10” for two categories each — Bay St. Louis-Waveland for success in English and U.S. history and Biloxi for math and science.
The data, collected as part of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, also showed progress since the COVID-19 pandemic. In a news release, Ray Morgigno, interim state superintendent of education, credited those results to teachers and school leaders who have dedicated careers to “helping students reach, and exceed, their goals.”
The tests score students in grades three through eight on English and math, grades five through eight on science and high school students on U.S. History.
Results showed highs and lows across the Coast. Nearly 90% of students scored in the highest ranking categories for U.S. History in Long Beach, for example, but only 13% of sixth graders in Moss Point earned similarly high scores in math.
Here’s a closer look at each district.
Hancock County School District
Hancock County students scored highest on U.S. History: about 87% earned scores classified as “proficient” or “advanced” — the two highest categories recognized.
About 59% of students scored proficient or advanced on English language arts, and 64% of students met those same scores in math, according to a Sun Herald analysis of Mississippi Department of Education data.
Roughly 74% of students met proficient or advanced scores in science.
Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District
About 88% of students in Bay St. Louis-Waveland schools scored proficient or advanced in U.S. History, data shows.
In science, 74% of students met similar scores. In math, about 64% scored in the highest two categories, and nearly 60% scored in the high-ranking categories for English.
Harrison County School District
Roughly 84% of students tested in Harrison County earned proficient or advanced scores in U.S. History.
About 72% scored proficient or advanced in science, testing data shows. In math, 65% of students met those categories and 59% of students scored similarly high in English.
Pass Christian Public School District
In Pass Christian, students scored highest in U.S. History: about 86% are proficient or advanced, data shows.
About 80% of students scored similarly high in science, and 59% scored proficient or advanced in math and English.
Long Beach School District
Almost 90% of students tested in Long Beach scored in the highest two categories for U.S. History.
About 76% met proficient or advanced scores in math, 77% met those scores in science and 64% scored similarly high in English.
Gulfport Public School District
About 75% of students tested in Gulfport schools earned proficient or advanced scores in U.S. History.
Around 62% scored similarly in science, and 60% in math.
About 56% of students met proficient or advanced categories in English, data shows.
Biloxi Public School District
Biloxi students scored high in U.S. History: about 80% are proficient or advanced, data shows.
Students scored similarly in science — 76% met proficient or advanced scores. In math, 70% of students reached those levels and 58% scored similarly high in English.
Jackson County School District
Trends for high scores in U.S. History continued in Jackson County, and about 86% of students are classified as proficient or advanced in the subject.
On average, 75% of students scored proficient or advanced in science, 65% scored similarly in math and 57% of students scored proficient or advanced in English.
Ocean Springs School District
Nearly 90% of Ocean Springs students tested scored proficient or advanced in U.S. History, data shows.
About 86% scored advanced or proficient in science, 76% scored within the same categories in math and 69% scored high in English.
Moss Point School District
Moss Point students scored high in U.S. History — 74% met proficient or advanced scores.
Under half of students are proficient or advanced in science, data shows, and 28% of students scored high in math.
Math scores differed dramatically across grades: only 13% of sixth graders scored advanced or proficient but nearly 60% of high school students did.
On average, 31% of Moss Point students earned proficient or advanced scores in English.
Pascagoula-Gautier School District
In Pascagoula-Gautier schools, about 80% of students scored proficient or advanced in U.S. History, data shows.
About 62% of students scored proficient or advanced in science, compared to 54% of students in math and 49% of students in English.
