NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: November 13, 2025
85% of Mississippi 3rd graders pass reading assessments for 2024-25 school year
JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) today announced 85% of third graders passed the third-grade reading assessment after the final retest for the 2024-25 school year. The pass rate is higher than the 2023-24 final pass rate of 84%.
Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA) requires third graders to achieve a passing score of Level 3 or higher on the reading portion of the state’s English Language Arts (ELA) assessment to qualify for promotion to fourth grade. The assessment has five levels. Students who score at Level 4 are considered proficient; Level 5 is advanced.
A record 77.3% of third graders passed the initial administration of the third-grade reading assessment given in spring 2025. In accordance with the LBPA, third graders who do not pass the initial administration of the reading test are given up to two attempts to retest. Students who did not pass the initial reading assessment retested in early May and in June.
Students who do not pass the test after the final attempt are retained in third grade unless they qualify for one of the good cause exemptions for certain students with disabilities, students learning English or students who have been previously retained. Local school districts determine which students who did not pass qualify for an exemption for promotion to fourth grade. Districts also consider their local promotion and retention policies for making determinations.
In an effort to increase literacy outcomes in Mississippi for the 2024-2025 school year, MDE did the following:
- Continued providing job-embedded training guided by literacy coaches at Literacy Support Schools
- Expanded opportunities for professional development at the state, district, and school levels
- Supported and promoted the adoption and implementation of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM)
- Increased the number of school and district staff trained in the Science of Reading
- Collaborated with educator preparation programs to integrate Science of Reading training for pre-service teachers
MDE remains committed to advancing these initiatives to improve literacy achievement among Mississippi’s students.
The LBPA enacted in 2013 was created to help ensure kindergarten through third-grade students develop good reading skills. The law was amended in 2016 to raise the passing score on the third-grade reading test starting in the 2018-19 school year.
Final district-level pass rates are published in the Literacy-Based Promotion Act Annual Report for the 2024-25 school year and can be viewed at mdek12.org/publicreporting/Reports.
Find all MDE news releases at mdek12.org/news.
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Jean Cook, APR
Chief of Communication
601-359-3515
jcook@mdek12.org
Shanderia Minor
Public Information Officer
601-359-3515
sminor@mdek12.org
