Results of the Mississippi Curriculum Tests proved to be goodnews for area schools, but they also indicate there is more work tobe done.

A series of stories we published last week on the tests, whichcover reading, language and math for public school students ingrades 2 through 8, indicates some specific areas where improvementis needed:

LINCOLN COUNTY: Bogue Chitto second, fourth and seventhgraderswere under the state average in reading scores.

In language, Bogue Chitto second, fourth, seventh and eighthgraders trailed the state scores. So did Enterprise third gradersand West Lincoln’s seventh graders.

In math, second, third, fourth, fifth, and seventh graders atBogue Chitto and Enterprise fourth grade scored below the stateaverage.

BROOKHAVEN: In the city school district, second, third, sixthand seventh graders scored below the state average in reading. Onthe language tests, only the eight graders were above the stateaverage. In math, the second and third grades lagged behindothers.

LAWRENCE COUNTY: Students in the third, sixth and seventh gradestrail in reading. Fifth, sixth and seventh graders are behind inlanguage.

FRANKLIN COUNTY: Fourth graders were below the state average inreading. Third, fourth and fifth graders fell short in language.Scores for the sixth, seventh and eighth grades were notavailable.

COPIAH COUNTY: Although officials are proud the district’s testresults are up, all scores fell below the state average.

We know the school systems in this area are good. We know thatsome of the best and hardest working teachers and administratorsare in this area. While we’ve pointed out the weak areas in thetest scores today, there is also some very good news: math scoresin nearly every grade were better than the state average.

A strong education system is vital for economic development insouthwest Mississippi. A strong education system is vital foreconomic development in other areas, too. Just look aroundMississippi and note where the strong schools are. That’s where youwill find communities that have invested in their localschools.

Students return to class at most area schools this week. We wisheveryone a safe, happy and successful year. We look forward toseeing future scores from the Mississippi Curriculum Tests, and weexpect they will show even more improvements.

Strong schools + economic development = a successfulcommunity.