Final results were released last week for the first year of the Third Grade Reading Gate showing Calhoun County with nearly 92% passing.
The final numbers at the conclusion of last school year showed Calhoun City Elementary with a passing rate of 95%, Bruce Elementary 90% and Vardaman 86%. Additional testing was done over the summer to allow those students that didn’t pass the initial reading gate exam additional opportunities to advance to the fourth grade.
“We’re down to three (students) now that didn’t pass – two at Bruce and one at Calhoun City,” Superintendent Mike Moore said.
Mike Moore
Those three students are repeating third grade this year.
They will take the reading gate exam again in November. If they pass it, they won’t have to take it in the spring, but Moore stipulated they will finish the school year repeating the third grade.
The 95% passing rate earned by CCES matched the top percentages when comparing it to elementary schools in the surrounding counties.
While Vardaman’s passing rate was on the lower end in the same comparison, Moore pointed out the tremendous language barrier to overcome there.
“When you look at our district, especially with the number of Hispanics at Vardaman, the third grade is where we start getting them on board,” he said. “If we can get them through the third grade, that’s where they start crossing that language barrier. That’s why we were worried at Vardaman. If it was a fourth grade gate, we would have felt a little better about it, but we’ve done really well.”
Moore credited the success at all three schools to the teachers, principals and parents.
“Number one, our teachers really did a good job with the test. Secondly, I think our principals did a good job with our third grade parents stressing the importance of it. I think we had some great parental help as well. I wish we could get that all the way through.”
For this school year, the school district has added an interventionist at each elementary school.
“When you include all the benefits, that’s probably $150,000 we’re spending on that, but we feel like it’s that important, because they’re not only going to work with third grade,” Moore said. “We’re going to try and catch them earlier in first and second grade. They’re pulling those students right now helping our teachers and doing mentoring in the classrooms. We feel like those interventions, identifying those kids early, will make a big difference.”
“We were already identifying them prior to all this, but since 2009 our class size has risen from 22 to 26 per class and there’s just not a lot a teacher can do with one individual student when you have 25 others,” Moore said.
The overwhelming need for interventionists has even changed the requests that will be submitted this year to state legislators.
Moore said superintendents across the state are going to ask for direct funding for more interventionists as opposed to MAEP full funding.
“Obviously they’re not going to fully fund MAEP. They’ve shown that, so we’re going to say you implemented this law, now we need interventionist,” Moore said. “If you want this to work, then put the money there for interventionists in the schools.”
Third Grade Reading Gate Passing Rates for 2014-15
Calhoun City 95%
East Webster 95%
Grenada 95%
Houston 95%
Lafayette 95%
Oxford 95%
Pontotoc 95%
North Pontotoc 93%
South Pontotoc 92%
Bruce 90%
Eupora 89%
Water Valley 87%
Vardaman 86%
Coffeeville 83%
Okolona 81%
Houlka 80%
Numbers provided by MS Department of Education.