NATCHEZ – A record high number of Mississippi third-graders passed the state reading assessment on the first attempt this spring, prompting praise from statewide education leaders.

“These results are outstanding. The MDE applauds all educators and families across the state that make literacy a priority,” said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education. “With a continued emphasis on the science of reading as well as implementation of high-quality instructional materials, we believe Mississippi students will continue to make progress.”

A total of 32,839 third graders took the assessment. In 2023-24, 75.7% of third graders passed the initial administration of the reading assessment. After the final retests in 2023-24, 84% of third graders passed the test.

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 retested in early May. The second retest window is June 16 – 27.

Area district performance included:

Natchez-Adams County School District

McLaurin Elementary School, 74.2% pass rate

Amite County School District

Amite County Elementary, 61.5% pass rate

Claiborne County School District

A.W. Watson Elementary, 64.4% pass rate

Franklin County School District

Franklin County Lower Elementary, 82.2% pass rate

Jefferson County School District

Jefferson County Elementary, 84%

Wilkinson County School District

Wilkinson County Elementary, 45% pass rate

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.

Click here to see the district- and school-level initial pass rate report for 2024-25.

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 2024-25 school year.

HATTIESBURG — The Mississippi high school softball championships are underway at the Southern Miss Softball Complex for the MHSAA playoffs.

Games began May 13 and run through May 17.

Here is a recap of some of the games.

Mississippi high school softball championship roundup 2025

East Central claims MHSAA 5A title after sweeping Lafayette

East Central’s championship drought finally ended.

After its forth state final appearance in the last five years, East Central (30-7) swept Lafayette (25-9) in the MHSAA Class 5A state final on May 14 with a 10-6 victory.

East Central defeated Lafayette 10-3 in Game 1 on May 13.

The Lady Hornets won their first title since 2009 and fifth overall.

“I mean, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know even if it’s kicked in,” East Central coach Gerald Edmonson said. “We’ve been here four out of the past five years. … We’ve been really close for the past five years, and to finally get over that hump. It’s just, it’s unbelievable.”

Junior Abigail Danis won series MVP after going 4-for-9 with four RBIs, pitching 10 innings with five strikeouts, and allowing four earned runs through two games.

Danis entered the fifth inning of Game 2 and allowed three hits and one run while breaking the game open in the fourth inning at the plate with a three-run home run to left field for a 9-5 lead.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better individual,” Edmonson said of Danis. “I know a lot of people say that, and that’s kind of cliche, but it’s really the truth. … She has been phenomenal all year.”

Edmonson credited the Lady Hornets for battling against MHSAA 5A Miss Softball Mabry Eason in both games.

MHSAA SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS: Mississippi high school softball championships 2025: MHSAA brackets, scores

“When you’re able to get to the 5A player of the year, not once, but twice, that speaks volumes about our approach and how locked in our girls were yesterday and today,” he said.

Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -Cases of pertussis, known as whooping cough, are on the rise nationwide. And Mississippi has already seen more cases than all of last year.

“This year, I think it’s going to be one of our worst years,” said Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney.

Edney says whooping cough is most worrisome for five-year-olds and younger, especially infants.

“It causes infection of the bronchial tubes and causes swelling and inflammation,” he explained. “And it has that classic, you know, cough that whoop[s]. It’s even scarier than croup, so it’s a very dangerous infection.”

Here are the statistics: the Department of Health reports there were 43 confirmed cases in 2024. There have been 38 confirmed already this year with another 17 probable cases, totaling 55.

Dr. Tamina McMillan at TrustCare Kids, says she hasn’t seen it this year but notes that it can start with normal cold-like symptoms and quickly escalate.

“If you have a kid who’s coughing with secondary symptoms like color changes, vomiting after coughing, a really prolonged cough, then they should be evaluated,” explained McMillan.

Vaccination is considered the best form of prevention. But that protection does fade.

“A good way to protect against that is if you are in charge of being around younger people, like infants less than 12 months, then everyone who’s around that infant should be vaccinated. [It] is called the cocoon effect,” explained McMillan. “So, if you surround yourself with vaccinated adults, then the child will have improved immunity.”

‘What I do myself is, you know, when it’s time for my tetanus booster, I just do pertussis booster with it,” added Dr. Edney. “That mainly is to protect other infants and children that might be around me, that I’m not spreading pertussis to them, where it [would] be more dangerous.”

But Dr. Edney notes that it doesn’t stop the infection in its tracks, but it makes any cases mild and easier to treat.

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