La. public schools to get multiple grades

In a one-time change, state officials said Thursday they plan to issue two letter grades to public schools this fall to show how they fared under new and old academic standards.

“This is a common sense proposal so that the public understands that we are changing the rules of the game,” state Superintendent of Education John White said.

But some members of the Superintendents’ Advisory Council, a key panel, said the plan will cause confusion.

“It will be hard to relate to the public when you have two grades,” said Michael Faulk, chairman of the panel and superintendent of the Central school system.

The state has issued letter grades to all of Louisiana’s roughly 1,300 public schools since 2011.

In October officials announced that 36 percent of public schools were rated D and F, down from 44 percent in 2011.

But the formula to determine those grades is changing, primarily for high schools.

Under the old rules, grades for high schools were based primarily on how students fared on end-of-course tests as well as graduation rates.

Under the new system grades will be made up of four components worth 25 percent each:

• End-of-course exams.
• ACT, a test of college readiness.
• Graduation rate.
• An index that awards advanced coursework and other factors.

White downplayed concerns that the two grades will trigger confusion among parents and students.

“We have gotten lots of feedback from schools that want to be honored for the good work they have done,” White said. “We don’t want that to be lost in the transition.”

Grades for elementary and middle scores will continue to stem mostly from test scores, including LEAP and iLEAP.

Doris Voitier, superintendent of the St. Bernard Parish school system, said early indications are that, while those scores will change little, school performance results for high schools will show a “drastic change.

Faulk agreed. “The issue is high schools,” he said.

Faulk noted that classrooms are already undergoing sweeping changes, with teachers facing new evaluations this year and tougher academic standards set to begin in 2014.

“There is a lot of uncertainity, a lot of anxiety,” he said.

Educators have said that, with the new requirement that all students take the ACT, overall ACT results are almost certain to drop, which will have an impact on high school grades.

White said the state has taken steps to prevent any wholesale decline, including a generous portion of points per high school for each student that scores at least an 18 — modest at best — on the ACT.

A perfect score is 36.

White said the grade that schools get under the new academic formula is the key rating for rewards and sanctions and will serve as the baseline for future years.

He said he plans to present his two-grade plan to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education later this spring.

Comments

1) Comment by bluelotus63 - 22/03/2013

The ACT portion of the score includes what amounts to abuse of high school, self-contained special education students who will not even receive a diploma, let alone attend "college." These students are placed in front of a computer and read the entire ACT test on a CD. Some try so hard to please their teachers that they struggle for hours attempting to get the answers right when they do not have the skills to answer them. It is very sad, and to what end? Obviously their scores will be low. As the article describes, the ACT is a "test of college readiness." These students have not taken core courses to prepare them for college. They have different abilities and goals than the average student. Their scores will pull down the average ACT score of an entire school in Mr. White's new system. They should not be forced to take the test because it is inappropriate for their IEP. Why are you demeaning these students Mr. White? This is quite cruel! It also does not make one bit of sense within your plan. I have come to expect half truths, manipulations, and outright lies from Jindal and White. Usually I give them credit for at least some basic intelligence, if not knowledge and experience in education. However, this time they have achieved a new level of ignorance and a shocking amount of cruelty. This practice should be stopped.

2) Comment by civitasiveritas - 22/03/2013

How interesting. John White totally ignored all of the questions concerning changes made to the accountability system last year, changes that resulted in this imaginary improvement in scores, for which the reformers took credit, of course. After lying to the media about there having been no changes, White ignored researchers who showed clearly that the "improvements" were due mainly to two changes in the accountability system. One was the switch from the old high-stakes LEAP exams in High Schools to the new Eond of Course exams, which use a different metric. Then, they changed the way graduation rates would be computed. John White was again given an opportunity to 'fess up and admit that he was, well, "mistaken" in his earlier comments about changes to the accountability system which led to huge increases in high school scores. Why does anyone in the state of Louisiana, and especially the media, listen to anything this young, inexperienced but audacious kid says? He has lied to the media, and the citizens of Louisiana about the procedures for approving voucher schools; remember the "muddying the narrative" emails that got out, of wait, The Advocate never reported on those lies. Remember the claims about teacher retirements, which were clear and unambiguous, and John White responded with his twisting of reality with counter claims about "attrition rates." Remember the claims about "tweaking the COMPASS system" when he never admitted the actual flaws, serious ones, with the system itself? And then, the bold lies about there having been no changes to the accountability system last year, when he orchestrated those changes? And what about the lies about the recovery school system? This man is toying with the people of Louisiana, knowing he is on his way to an other job in months, and won't have to deal with any of the lingering aftershocks of the explosions and lies that have come close to destroying the public schools of Louisiana. The biggest lie, though, and one no reformer can ever admit to, but one to which researchers around the state and nation have pointed out, is that the entire "accountability system" was designed for one purpose. To destroy the public school system. The only thing the letter grades tell us, no matter how many different grades you give a school using the reformers' rhetorical ***** is the poverty in a school. Nothing else. The BIG LIE. Did John White's schools and family never teach him that lying is a sin?

3) Comment by Ohsofedup - 21/03/2013

Once again John White is just blowing smoke and trying to start a fire. He is trying to do so many things that are wrong for the kids in our schools. He has no experience to be making these changes and tomorrow I am quite sure he will make changes on something else he knows very little about. Why oh why does Louisiana continue to bring in the outsiders with absolutely no knowledge of how to do things in this state and put them in positions that they are not qualified to be in. He came in this state from New York and after he made changes up there, most of which are still affecting failing schools. Then he somehow winds up in New Orleans working as Superintendent of the Louisiana Recovery School District. Of which is still in very bad shape. What is it going to take for the taxpayers of Louisiana to come together, and bombard BESE and the legislators with letters, emails,personal visits,meetings, until they see what the rest of us see, the John White is not the right person to be making the changes to the Public School System. He needs to be removed and replace by an experience EDUCATOR that has actually worked many years as a teacher,in administration, and have some actual progress reports that he could prove that where he has been has made things better. So far all we see and hear is one change after another, that only a person without all the necessary professional experience is taking us in the wrong direction. I am sure that this legislative session that begins very soon, his name will come up quite often and his ratings won't be so great this time around. Neither will he have as many supporters as the last session. So many negative, and improper things have happened since the last session, this one should be really interesting.