Mississippi kindergarten readiness scores are out. Here’s how Coast districts performed.
Scores in an assessment of Mississippi kindergarteners showed a significant jump from pandemic levels and brought students almost equal with testing results from four years ago.
The Mississippi Department of Education announced Thursday that 61.4% of kindergarteners and pre-K students met an end-of-year target score in spring 2023. In fall 2022, only 34.9% had proved ready for kindergarten, according to the test metrics.
Students still have not reached even with scores before the COVID-19 pandemic, when about 65% of kindergartners met the department’s target score in spring 2019. Kindergarteners and pre-K students take the test each fall and spring. It is designed to show parents how prepared 4-year-old children are for kindergarten and gives teachers a baseline of what children know before starting school.
Here’s how school districts across the Mississippi Coast fared. Highest scoring districts are listed first.
- Long Beach School District: 85.19% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Harrison County School District: 75.59% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Pass Christian Public School District: 70.69% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Hancock County School District: 69.64% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Gulfport School District: 68.80% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Jackson County School District: 66.51% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Pascagoula School District: 63.85% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Biloxi Public School District: 63.10% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Moss Point School District: 59.54% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
- Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District: 58.33% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
Ocean Springs School District: 57.71% of students tested are ready for kindergarten.
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 1:21 PM.