The Mississippi Department of Education released the statewide results from the 2020-21 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) on Thursday, which provided the first hard evidence of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the state’s education system.

For the first time since MAAP tests were first administered in 2016, student proficiency decreased in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). Students were last tested in 2019 and reached an all-time high for proficiency in mathematics and ELA.

The state’s proficiency average for mathematics was 35.1 percent, which was a 12.3 percent decrease from 2019’s statewide average of 35.1 percent. The ELA average was 34.9 percent, which was only a 6.7 percent decrease from 2019’s average of 41.6.

All grades saw a decrease in proficiency statewide, except for eighth grade ELA, which had a 0.1 percent increase from its 2019 average.

“The disruption and stress caused by COVID-19 has had an impact on student performance in every state in the country and the impact has been more marked in mathematics than in English Language Arts,” said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education. “I am proud of the way Mississippi students, families, teachers and school leaders persevered through the most challenging school year of their lives.”

While as a state, school districts saw a drop in scores on average, the Oxford School District managed to have proficiency averages above the state average in both ELA and mathematics.

Oxford’s ELA proficiency was 48.8 percent, which placed it as the ninth best score in the state and finished just above Rankin County School District’s ELA average of 48.6 percent.

When it came to the mathematics average, OSD had a score of 53 percent, putting it just outside the top 10 districts in the state. Madison County School District placed 10th with a score of 54.5 percent.

According to data provided by OSD, the proficiency percentages of students who participated in virtual learning ranged from 10 to 21 percent lower than those who participated in face-to-face instructional the entire school year.

“COVID impacted every facet of student learning last year,” said Oxford school superintendent Bradley Roberson. “I want to commend our staff for doing the best they could to take care of our kids under such difficult circumstances. Last year brought many more challenges that just teaching and learning, and test scores are certainly not the only measure of success.”

The ACT composite scores were also released, which were the scores of tests taken by juniors who are now seniors this year. The Mississippi School for Math and Science paced the state with an average score of 27.6 followed while OSD finished second with a score of 20.8

The MAAP proficiency scores for science and history were also released with OSD having an average of 63 percent in science and 57.8 percent in history.