School scores

The St. Mary Parish school district maintained a B rating despite harder tests, which are part of the state’s long-term transition to higher expectations.
Superintendent Donald Aguillard said in a news release today, “Both the iLEAP and LEAP tests were adjusted in grades 3-8 to include items similar to the PARCC tests that students will take for the first time in the spring of 2015. Thus, school performance scores bear an indication as to how students are adapting to the state’s educational changes.”
St. Mary Parish was awarded its district letter grade combining performance ratings from all 23 schools into a District Performance Score that is then converted to a letter grade using a 150-point scale.
The surrounding parishes of Iberia, St. Martin, Assumption, Terrebonne and Lafourche all earned B ratings, according to state data.
Data released today by the Louisiana Department of Education indicates the district remained a B with a 90.4 district score. Rankings of the 74 school districts receiving performance score ratings in the 2014 data release shows St. Mary ranks 26th in the state, continuing to outpace the state’s performance score of 89.2. In 2013, St. Mary schools received a district score of 90.5, also equating to a letter grade of B.
Of the district’s 23 schools, three increased their scores, while five dropped a letter grade. The other 15 remained neutral.
Performance scores are calculated primarily from achievement on iLEAP and LEAP tests in elementary and middle schools, while high school performance scores are divided among several factors. The state’s end-of-course testing and nationally-based ACT tests combine to gauge 50 percent of high school performance with the remaining 50 percent assigned through graduation results. Additionally, schools have the option to earn a maximum of 10 bonus points for demonstrating significant growth among low-performing subgroups that exceed predetermined growth targets, according to Aguillard.
The parish still has three A schools, but those schools have changed. Berwick High and Berwick Junior High retained their A scores. Joining their ranks is Bayou Vista Elementary, which experienced an 8.9 point increase in its score to 104.5. There were 241 A schools in the state.
Of those three, Berwick Junior High had the highest School Performance Score in the parish at 113.3. Any score over 100 is an A on the state’s scale.
Schools increasing their letter grades are LaGrange Elementary, from D to C with a 10.4 point increase in its SPS; Hernandez Elementary, D to C with a 13.1 point jump in its SPS; and Bayou Vista Elementary, B to A. The score increases qualify them as “Top Gains” schools as well, a notation by the state that a school has achieved its growth target.
Schools seeing a decline were W.P. Foster Elementary, C to D; Berwick Elementary, A to B; Patterson Junior High, B to C; Morgan City High, B to C; and Morgan City Junior High, B to C.
State Superintendent John White said via news release that the state designed its grade 3-8 LEAP and iLEAP tests to be as challenging as the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), a test taken by roughly 5 million students in other states.
“The 2014 report cards are part of the state’s multi-year transition to higher academic expectations. During the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years, educators, parents, and students are learning the new expectations, as the state’s tests and accountability system adjust. Louisiana committed to a gradual change process, ensuring that schools would not be humiliated, educators not denigrated, and students not punished in the process,” State Superintendent John White said in a news release today.
Because of the transition to higher expectations, even though test scores remained steady, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education added an additional layer of stability to the report card letter grade system during the 2014 and 2015 transition process, requiring that the overall distribution of letter grades awarded to schools would not indicate lower performance than in 2013.
While schools may improve on their own, BESE guaranteed that there would not be fewer A-rated schools or fewer B-rated schools in 2014, for example, than in 2013. Of the 1,335 schools statewide, 21 (1.6 percent) had letter grades increased as a result of this policy.
Aguillard said St. Mary Parish did not have one of those schools.
The Louisiana Department of Education also released compilation results following Louisiana’s second year of implementation of the COMPASS teacher evaluation tool. Final COMPASS ratings for St. Mary Parish revealed 34 percent of teachers achieved a Highly Effective rating; 62 percent attained an Effective: Proficient rating; 3 percent reached the Effective: Emerging status; and less than 1 percent were found Ineffective. Individual teacher ratings are not released as this information is strictly confidential, Aguillard said.
St. Mary Parish has experienced annual growth since 2004 when the district score was 79.1. Over the past 10 years, St. Mary Parish has experienced an increase of 28.3 points in academic performance ratings.
According to Agulliard, “The district’s primary goal remains the continued successful preparation of all students to prepare for college and career aspirations. The challenge presented to administrators, teachers and students has necessitated a shift in both teaching and learning. I am exceptionally proud of the efforts by all St. Mary educators in completing the transition and trust that continued refinements will enable our students to grow academically despite any changes in assessment measures.”
The six public high schools had graduation rates ranging between 69 percent and 91 percent. They are measured by the number of students who graduate on time in four years.
Parish graduation rates were: Berwick High, 91 percent; Centerville High, 77 percent; Franklin High, 69 percent; Morgan City High, 75 percent; Patterson High, 82 percent; and West St. Mary High, 72 percent.
Online
Individual school report cards conveying 2013-14 test performance illustrate how each individual school performed compared to state averages. In addition, report cards have been expanded to present 2012-13 letter grades for comparison with 2013-14 performance. School report cards may be accessed at www.louisianabelieves.com/data/reportcards/.