75.6% of MS third graders pass state reading assessment on first attempt in 2026
JANS – The Mississippi Department of Education has received confirmation that 75.6% or 24,118 of third graders passed the initial administration of the third-grade reading assessment given this spring for the 2025-26 school year. A total of 31,887 students took the test.
In 2024-25, 77.3% of third graders passed the initial administration of the assessment, with 84.6% of students passing after final retests. In 2023-24, 75.7% of students passed the initial administration, with 84% passing after final retests.
In accordance with the Literacy-Based Promotion Act (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 took retests from May 11-15. The second retest window is June 22-26.
The LBPA became law in 2013 to improve reading skills of kindergarten through third-grade students in public schools, so every student completing the third grade is able to read at or above grade level. The LBPA requires Mississippi third graders to pass a reading assessment to qualify for promotion to fourth grade. Some students may qualify for good cause exemptions to be promoted to fourth grade.
An amendment to the law in 2016 raised reading-level expectations starting in the 2018-19 school year, requiring third graders to score at level three or higher on the reading portion of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) English Language Arts (ELA) assessment.
To see the district- and school-level initial pass rate report for 2025-26, go to mdek12.org/publicreporting/2025-26/.
Final district-level pass rates will be published this fall in the Literacy-Based Promotion Act Annual Report of Performance and Student Retention for the 2025-26 school year.
