Third of public schools receive poor grades from state

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• BR schools showing improvement

State officials said Monday that 36 percent of public schools in Louisiana are rated D and F, down from 44 percent last year.

In addition, 36 percent of schools are rated A and B, and 75 percent of all schools showed gains on the all-important school performance scores that determine the grades, state Superintendent of Education John White told reporters.

“This is a day to celebrate,” White said, adding that major education challenges remain.

The grades, which began last year, stem from a 2010 law pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

They are linked mostly to how students did on key state tests, including the LEAP test that fourth- and eighth-graders have to pass for promotion and end-of-course tests for high school students.

The grades are designed to make it easier for parents and other taxpayers to see how the state’s 1,303 public school are faring.

Last year’s results sparked a political firestorm, with Jindal and others arguing that they pointed up the need for sweeping changes in public schools, which the Legislature approved. This year’s results are not related 2012 overhaul legislation.

Opponents call the grading system unfair, and renewed their criticism after the results were issued on Monday.

Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said the gains show that the state did not need to enact laws earlier this year, including a major expansion of the state’s voucher law so that low-income students from C, D and F public schools can attend private and parochial schools.

Monaghan also said more credit is due to teachers and other educators in the trenches.

Even with the gains, the number of public schools rated F rose from 115 to 157.

White said that increase stemmed from a new policy approved by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE, that requires schools to score at least 75 out of 200 to avoid a failing grade, up from 65 last year.

“That is a result of the BESE board raising the bar on what is an F,” he said.

At the other end, the number of school districts that earned an A rose from one to seven, including the Ascension, West Feliciana, Zachary and Central school systems.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the growth we have seen in Ascension Parish,” said Ascension Superintendent Patrice Pujol, who joined White at the press conference.

The East Baton Rouge Parish School District rose from a D to a C in the latest tabulations.

Leslie Jacobs, a former BESE member who lives in New Orleans, said the results show that scores for public schools in New Orleans have risen by 36.8 points since 2005, best in the state.

“The data makes it clear that, while we still have a long way to go, the progress our schools have made is undeniable,” said Jacobs, who is founder of Educate Now!

The state’s school performance score shot up by its biggest margin ever, sparking questions on whether the state changed the way the results are calculated.

But White said in a telephone interview after the press conference that the state did not switch its methodology.

He said high school students showed a dramatic gain over last year on end-of-course tests, which boost the letter grade, and the state’s high school graduation rate rose to 71.4 percent, part of a years-long effort to reach 80 percent by 2014.

The 440 schools that met state growth targets will qualify for rewards of about $8,500 each.

Education officials and others said that, even with the progress, public schools in Louisiana face major hurdles.

Chas Roemer, a member of BESE who lives in Baton Rouge, said about 200,000 of the state’s 700,000 public school students are performing below grade level.

“The challenges are still immense,” said Roemer, who attended the news conference.

The letter grades replaced a system in which the state assigned stars to public schools, depending on performance.

“I didn’t have a clue,” state Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, said of the old system.

Assigning schools traditional letter grades “gives parents a chance to see where the good schools are,” said Carter, who attended the news conference.

Comments

1) Comment by atdunn28 - 23/10/2012

Well I graduated from a "D" school. I did however get into Columbia University. And when college classes got rough I talked to a former high school classmate of mine who had previously graduated from Columbia. But everybody knows how smart and honest the Louisiana state government is. Maybe you should just trust them.

2) Comment by nimby? - 23/10/2012

there was a recent story how attendance is down in a number of local schools in this catagory . could that have some bearing on the improved scores ?

3) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 23/10/2012

thanks twinkie1cat! There is so much craziness out there in the parallel universe of school reformers. Follow the money!

4) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

You are right about the free lunch indicator. I asked about the demographic of students receiving free lunches at the highest achieving high school in Ascension Parish. Even with the kids who had transferred from Donaldsonville, it was only 35%. That is only about a third of the kids at poverty level. But of course the Republicans don't want to deal with the fact that poverty is a major factor in school achievement. After all, then they would actually have to do something about it.

5) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

Noel, you are really pointing out the disadvantages of kids with disabilities in high stakes testing. Those tests don't account for kids with sensory disabilities, much less learning and cognitive ones. A few years ago a honor student at a school for the blind in Georgia had to settle for a Special Education Diploma because no provision had been made on the test for a student who was unable to see a map so she could perform on that section of the graduation test. Special needs kids are just ripped off by high stakes testing. Always takes the clear head of someone who is actually part of the education community to see the problem. The politicians I guess would have their cancer treated by an electrician.

6) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

I hope if LAA2 students are going to take the ACT that those Teach for Americas know how to do 504 Plans to go along with their IEPS because LAA2 is intended for students with moderate retardation--- -IQ 35-50. The ACT is not meant for kids with retardation and even some with severe learning disabilities or mild retardation. Why are they being THAT stupid?

7) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

Concerned Parent: Of course it's vote buying. That is all "reform" has been from the start, vote buying of religious conservatives and putting money into the hands of businesses that will donate to the GOP in return. The whole thing is not about education. Look at what Mitt Romney said about the 47% of Americans that won't vote for him. He said they felt entitled and did not want to make their own way. The GOP is trying to placate the very wealthy so they will donate large sums since they no longer have a way to bribe them with a war. So they are feeding our children to them instead. Then they are trying to ensure the votes of the religious conservatives that the hate preachers, Faux News and Rush Limbaugh have convinced that the party of God is the Republican Party.

8) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

Lawyer Dan, they are not even needed in C rated systems. A C is a Satisfactory by any grading system. Those schools were just stuck in so that some middle class kids would go to the voucher schools. Those are the ones that the charters and parochials actually want and will compete for, not the poor children. Nobody wants poor or disabled children except some of the really good teachers who love a challenge and think those kids are really cool.

9) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

The RSD schools still have the lowest scores in the state. Why aren't they being taken over by the state? Oh, I forget, they already are run by the state. Some of them were failing charters before the RSD took them back over and it plans to make them charters again. Therefore, a new plan is needed. This one does not work. The RSD schools must be given over to certified, experienced teachers with education degrees and directed by experienced, certified teachers with at least 2 education degrees to run as they see fit as PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS. It is the only plan that will work. Of course that is not what the politicians want. They just want poorly educated slaves for their fiefdoms to do minimum wage jobs.

10) Comment by twinkie1cat - 23/10/2012

Chas Roemer's kids go to parochial schools. He should not be on a governing board over the public schools unless he has a stake in them. Any politician on BESE who has kids in parochials is in a serious state of conflict of interest because the parochials benefit when the publics fail. Right now they are benefitting from taxpayer money through the unconstitutional voucher system.

11) Comment by coachblades - 23/10/2012

John White, Bobby Jindal, the BESE board (except lottie beebe) and MANY of our legislators are all bought and paid for by Mayor Bloomberg, the Waltons, Eli Braud, and several others that stand to make TONS of money from these obviously unnecessary reforms. Educating children means nothing to these people. It is a way to make money and nothing more.

12) Comment by MBEW - 23/10/2012

14 comments and no one noticed that 36% is more than 1/3. Hmmmm This problem may be deeper than we think.

13) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 23/10/2012

@LawyerDan65........It's vote buying! Jindal and White are too afraid to admit what the problems really are. It's easier to find a way to put money in someone's hand to ensure you get their vote when running for your next political position. Curious to see if he will acutally show up and answer questions to the Tangi School Board lawsuit this week or if the legal team will find yet another way for them to hide and delay it.

14) Comment by Politivore - 23/10/2012

...and a third of Louisiana public schools received good grades, and a third of Louisiana public schools received average grades. What a terrible headline... wear your inclinations on your sleeve Advocate headline writer.

15) Comment by LawyerDan65 - 23/10/2012

So in the same year that theLegislature, at the behest of the Gov., was deciding to give public education dollars to private schools, LA public schools systems acheived the following: 7 "A" rated systems up from 1; 21 "B" rated systems up from 13 and even the much maligned EBR system up to a "C" rating. Will these gains be wiped away by the transfer of millions of public education dollars to private schools across the State? Why are vouchers even needed in an "A" or "B" rated school system? Punishing success is simply wrong. Maybe the Legislature will stand up and say "ENOUGH!"

16) Comment by Fyreduo - 23/10/2012

I want to know how they'll spin it next year when scores fall (and they will fall). Next year's score will be based on 150 points (not 200 like this year), and will take into account EVERY 11th grader (even LAA 2 Special Education Students) taking the ACT? Do we honestly believe that students who do not plan to go to college will take the ACT seriously? If you must use their ACT scores, why not take their highest scores when they graduate, not just their highest scores in the 11th grade? Wouldn't it make more sense that they've had another year of instruction and would probably score higher as a senior? Ever thought about what every student taking the ACT will do to the state average and TOPS? Right now, it takes a score of 20 (the state average) to earn TOPS. What happens when the state average drops because of this testing? The ACT was meant as an indicator of how students will do in college, not to measure all students, certainly not special education students.

17) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 23/10/2012

This statement alone shows just how ignorant some of our state leaders are: "Leslie Jacobs, a former BESE member who lives in New Orleans, said the results show that scores for public schools in New Orleans have risen by 36.8 points since 2005, best in the state". Removing all of your poor performing schools out of the equation doesn't equal you growing by the highest percantage in the state!! Talk about smoke and mirrors. Tell me this Mr. White, how does the top school districts in the state grow at a higher percantage than your beloved RSD? And it's the same school districts year after year. They have been on this path LONG before you got involved. Hmmmm, they pay their teachers a decent wage(still too low), they have parents that are invested in their child's education, they have low crime rates, and they have teachers that work their butts off. BUT, you think you need to fix them and tell them HOW they need to start teaching their students. What exactly are they doing wrong? Give them a little extra support and let them flourish. They don't need reform. Oh, but they are getting it! Keep ingnoring the real problems all you want. You and Mr. Jindal can spin it any way you would like. Mr. White and Mr. Jindal like to refer to what the state of Florida is doing with their reform. Please go take a look at their latest proposals which will include race-based targets for student achievement. They are saying that Asian students should have the highest acheivement followed by whites, hispanics, and then blacks. REALLY? This should offend everyone. We should not be telling our kids that it's ok not to do well b/c you are of a certain race. You should look at the reasons why a certain race performs lower and find a solution to these social and economic issues. It is not a problem within the schools. However, pointing out these problems and doing what is necessary to fix them will cost you votes and get you labled "politically incorrect". It's much easier to point your finger at someone else(teachers/schools) and say it's their fault. Schools in the south will never rise to national levels until EVERYONE takes off their race glasses, hold yourselves accountable for your children, and instill a sense of pride in them. Teach them that accepting handouts is not a way of life. Teach them that a little hard work goes a long way!

18) Comment by tradewinns - 23/10/2012

these figures are NOT reason to celebrate. the worst school should still be turning out students who can read, write and mathematically function at grade level. only those who unfortunately have a mental disorder should not be at an acceptable level. the problem is not the taxpayer's contribution nor the teaching profession's efforts, the problem is the parents. and please don't use that ruse of the parents have 2-3 or more jobs and do not have time for their kids. the number who actually fit that description are few and far between. the majority of the "poverty" parents (that work) have one low paying job due to their educational accomplishments. one would think that they would want their kids to do better (as the middle class aspires) but here they truly believe that is the suckers way. they believe it's good enough for themselves and therefore good enough for their children. just think, an uneducated teen can make over a $1-2 K a week selling drugs on a part time basis and sleep late every day while still being a "player" in the neighborhood. they also know the first and even the second time caught selling, the "justice" system is going to turn them back out to continue, so they ride the gravy train. once the legal system really gets them and they spend some time in jail, their future is bleak. by that time they have multiple children of their own, all supported by the taxpayer, and they couldn't get a "real" job because of their criminal record. so the cycle of poverty continues. it begins with the parents and must be contained immediately by holding the parents responsible. if the parents CAN NOT do their job, the taxpayer should have the option of removing the children from their parents by way of orphanages.

19) Comment by wroughtironandbrass - 23/10/2012

How can you trust anything from John White's Department of Education? Maybe we should name it the Department of Propaganda! White lies.

20) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 23/10/2012

Chas Roemer claims 200,000 state student performing below grade level. Could he back up that statement with some actual releases of data? Could he define "grade level" for us? Here are some actual questions the media might ask Chas, et al. the next time they decide to actually use their First Amendment rights. When you say 200,000 students are below grade level, do you mean in math? Reading? Science? Social Studies? Every subject? One subject? Two? Is there a reason why no member of the media ever seems to ask the obvious questions? By the way... the 200,000 number? Totally made-up. No truth to it. No data has ever been shown to back it up. They just throw numbers into the air. Why not? No one ever questions them on it!

21) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 23/10/2012

Almost forgot... Leslie Jacob's self-serving comments aside, the New Orleans RSD is right down there with the rest of the State- wide RSD. FAILING. Although the RSD-NO claims it has just managed to climb above the 75 cut-off score, it is ONLY due to the hiding of test-scores from schools that are constantly being closed and shuffled into the hands of new profit-making charter school ventures. When you look at ALL the RSD-NO schools, and put in all the scores, the RSD continued to fail. No miracles here, just a shell game that the media seems afraid to go after. Of course, when the state hides all of its data, and spends tax dollars defending its right to keep all of the data "Secret," it is becoming all but impossible for mere taxpayers and citizens to know the truth. I suspect collusion.

22) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 23/10/2012

As before, the districts having the lowest percent of students living in poverty did the best, and the districts having the highest percentage of students living in poverty, did the worst. Not that you will EVER find a story in The Advocate that actually explains this, or provides a chart of this. A visual aid, so to speak. I will describe it, for you cannot put a chart in these comments. This Bar Chart has a vertical axis, which represents the percentage of students in the schools qualifying for free meals, starting at 0% and going up to 100%. Not free OR reduced, just free meals. Lowest income levels. Across the horizontal axis are the five "Letter Grades." Starting with "A" and then continuing to "F" on the far right side. Now, their is a nearly perfect line going across the top of each bar. "A" schools have an average of 34% of students qualifying for free meals, while the "F" schools have 89%. Fill in the pattern. If this seems difficult, I invite you to image taking a high stakes tests, and having this described to you, because you are blind and cannot see it. At the Louisiana State School for the Visually Impaired... a young friend of mine had that challenge. Welcome to the world of high-stakes testing. To actually see the chart, google "Why schools fail, and what if failing schools aren't?

23) Comment by spqr - 23/10/2012

Noel, you are so right. Roemer's family is profiting from charter schools, White- "lies" cannot wait to assume credit for the gains, the NO RSD hopes to erase its reputation for the worst state schools, and BESE wants this latest report to allow them more dictatorial policy changes. And who should take more credit but will be ignored? The classroom teachers. Yes, Steve Carter, you do not have a clue and never will.

24) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 23/10/2012

Yes, the high school changes were the highest, and yes, it was because of the new measures. For those with little no experience in tests and measurement, meaning the entire administration, for the most part, the scores on every high-stakes test show a similar pattern. They go up rapidly in the first few years as more and more students, and their teachers, figure out how to teach to them, and to prepare for them. No surprises here. And as far as graduation rates? Read about Campbell's Law. Basically, any time you have a high-stakes measurement, the measurement itself is corrupted in order to "measure up." Nothing new here... move on. Oh wait, if you are fairly new to education, and didn't actually go to school to learn these things, they might be new!

25) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 23/10/2012

“I didn’t have a clue,” was the quote from Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge. FINALLY! We agree. He should have stopped there, however, for his next comments show his total lack of knowledge of the accountability system. According to The Advocate, the assigning of letter grades “gives parents a chance to see where the good schools are,” said Carter, who attended the news conference. What an idiotic statement. Letter Grades are NOT an indicator of the quality of the school. At best, they are a measure of the poverty within the school, unless the school is a selective enrollment school, meaning they pick and choose their students. At those schools, they are a measure of the ability of the school to select high performing students. When are the reformers like Apel and Carter going to learn?

26) Comment by tball - 23/10/2012

We need OBAMA to run the school system, he is good at everything!