The Mississippi Department of Education released the statewide results of the 2018-19 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) on Thursday, which shows student achievement has reached an all-time high in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.

Following the release of the results, Oxford School District was one of seven districts ranked in the top-1o statewide for proficiency in both ELA and mathematics. The other six districts were Booneville, Clinton, Enterprise, Ocean Springs, Petal and Union County.

MAAP measures students’ progress toward academic goals that equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in college and the workforce. Mississippi’s schoolteachers helped develop the MAAP tests, which align with the learning goals for Mississippi classrooms. The MAAP measures student performance in ELA and mathematics in grades 3 through 8, and in high school English II and Algebra I.

“Mississippi’s students are outpacing the nation in learning gains, thanks to their hard work and the hard work of teachers, school staff, school leaders and parents,” Carey Wright, Mississippi’s state superintendent of education, said in a release provided by the Mississippi Department of Education. “Education in Mississippi is part of our state’s success story.”

The MAAP exams were first administered in the 2015-16 school year, when one-third of students met or exceeded grade-level expectations in ELA and mathematics. Last year, more than half of students met or exceeded those same expectations. ELA achievement increased from 33.6 percent to 41.6 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced. The number of students who scored proficient or advanced in mathematics increased from 33 percent to 47.3 percent.

The state’s plan for improving student achievement calls for at least 70 percent of all students to be proficient in ELA and mathematics by 2025. The MAAP tests have five levels, with students who score at Level 4 or 5 considered proficient or advanced in the subject.

There were 48 school districts that had greater than 45 percent of all students scoring Level 4 or 5 in ELA – eight more districts than in 2018 and 34 more than in 2016. There were 62 school districts that had greater than 45 percent of all students scoring Level 4 or 5 in mathematics, which is 47 more than in 2016.