VIDALIA, La. — Results for 10th- and 11th-graders taking Louisiana’s graduation exit exam were mixed, both for Concordia Parish and statewide.

Louisiana Department of Education officials released statewide results Monday. But Concordia Parish Superintendent Lester &uot;Pete&uot;&160;Peterman did not receive that district’s results until late Tuesday morning.

In Concordia Parish, 92 percent of students who took the writing portion of the test this spring passed, down slightly 93 percent last year. Yet only 77 percent passed the English portion, down from 85 percent in 1999.

&uot;I’ll need to see the individual schools’ scores to get a better idea of why that is,&uot;&160;Peterman said.As of Tuesday afternoon, he was not sure when the district would receive those scores.

But scores on other portions of the test were up from 1999. On the math portion of the GEE, 76 percent of students passed, up from 74 percent last year. On the science portion of the test, 83 percent passed, up from 80 percent last year. And 93 percent passed the social studies part, up from 88 percent in 1999.

About 160 Concordia Parish 10th- and 11th-graders took the GEE this year. Students must pass all parts of the GEE — or pass a retest — to receive a diploma. Tenth-graders take the English, math and writing portions, while 11th-graders take the science and social studies portions.

Statewide results for students who took the exam showed some small declines in scores among 10th-graders in the English language arts part of the test, and for 11th-graders on the social studies portion.

State Superintendent Cecil Picard said he is disappointed some GEE scores were down. But he said those students have not had the benefit of reform initiatives that are in place in lower grades. The state also released results of Iowa Tests taken by ninth-graders this year. Concordia Parish’s ninth-graders scored in the 38th percentile this year, the same as in 1999.

Louisiana ninth-graders had a percentile rank of 46, up from 44 in 1999, and the nationwide average is 50, according to information from the State Department of Education.