Test scores are out for Louisiana schools, and while the numbers don’t show as much growth as the last two years, students maintained recent gains.
“Obviously, we understand that in a state that's been long challenged, we have a long way to go,” State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley told reporters Wednesday.
A little more than a third of students scored mastery or higher — meaning they were ready for the next grade level — across all subjects, excluding the state’s social studies exam which is being redeveloped.
Like education leaders in other states, Brumley has focused on improving students’ reading scores by the end of third grade, when they make the leap from learning to read to reading to learn.
Louisiana led the country in reading growth for fourth graders in 2022, something officials attribute to the state’s endorsement of the science of reading and return to phonics, as well as more frequent screenings to identify students who are behind so they can receive tutoring.
About 44% of third graders were proficient in reading last spring, up two points from the year before, according to results from last spring’s LEAP exam.
Starting this school year, third graders who score in the lowest category on a different reading test could be held back under a new state law, though charter schools are exempt.
“I think it's important that we're moving away from the concept of social promotion,” Brumley said. “We are going to ensure that students … are ready for fourth grade content.”
Math, science scores stall
Louisiana has long struggled to grow students’ math and science scores, and LEAP results show that hasn’t changed.
Less than a third of kids in grades 3-8 were proficient in math, same as last year and 3 percentage points below where students were before the pandemic. In science, 28% of 3-8 students met the state’s target, also the same rate as the year before.
Brumley said the state is directing more attention to math and has started implementing the same approach it’s taken to reading: Increased screening and high-dosage tutoring.
Overall, eighth graders posted the worst scores, showing a decline across all subjects. While high schoolers’ results showed a flat line.
New 'reading gate'
Louisiana's new retention policy mirrors one that Mississippi first passed in 2013. Since then, Mississippi students have made the biggest leap in reading scores, from far beneath, to on par with the national average in 2019.
More than three-quarters of that state’s third graders scored high enough to advance on their first try last spring and had the option to retest twice over the summer.
Mississippi’s progress has been widely praised and lauded by some as a “miracle,” while others argue the label fails to acknowledge the state’s careful policy changes. That includes not just retention, but a complete rethinking of reading instruction, something Brumley has said Louisiana is trying to replicate.
But, holding children back remains controversial, and despite Mississippi's overall success, some school districts haven’t seen as much progress.
Louisiana will use a new early literacy screening system to determine which third graders to retain. Starting in kindergarten, students are screened at the beginning, middle and end of the school year, a system the state rolled out last fall.
Officials have said the goal is to raise red flags early so children get the help they need to read on grade level by the end of third grade.
If the so-called "reading gate" had been in place last school year, 30% of third graders could have been retained, since they scored in the screener's lowest category, according to data from Louisiana's Department of Education.
Brumley said it’s up to local school districts to identify students who are behind, make sure their parents are aware and work to catch them up.
“We don't want any surprises,” he said.
