Louisiana advances plan for new school grading system to enhance accountability

Louisiana is preparing to hold K-12 schools accountable by overhauling their grading system to raise achievement standards.

A state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education committee approved a new grading plan on Tuesday, with a full board vote set for Wednesday, a state Department of Education spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.

While a similar measure failed two years ago, Louisiana Department of Education deputy chief of communication Ted Beasley told the Washington Examiner that “items approved during committee tend to gain final approval during the full board meeting, but the plan will not be approved until the full board votes again tomorrow.”

Louisiana’s school accountability system assigns letter grades to the performances of schools and school systems. According to state Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley, the current accountability standards set a low bar for student achievement, giving schools high letter grades such as A’s and B’s, even as they leave students unequipped for college or life after high school graduation.

“This revised system will drive performance to new levels and provide the public with a transparent understanding of school quality,” Brumley told the Washington Examiner in a statement.

While roughly 67% of high schools received A’s and B’s in Louisiana last year, only about 20% of students are prepared for college-level math, according to 2023 ACT scores. Under the new system, it is possible only 30% of high schools would achieve A and B grades. In addition, a minimum ACT score of 20 would be imposed despite the fact that the statewide average is currently 18.

An accountability scorecard from the state’s education department shows only 33.6% of students are proficient in math and 43.4% are proficient in English. While the high school graduation rate is 82.7%, only 25.5% of high school students are “ready based on a nationally recognized exam” in English, according to a Louisiana Department of Education presentation from May on the new standards.

The plan, called “Grow.Achieve.Thrive.,” set to take effect in 2026 if approved by the full board, also includes college-readiness goals that only about 25% of students currently meet. The new standards also differentiate between a “university pathway” and a “career pathway.”

However, the new system weighs student improvement over time more heavily than state tests and proficiency, doubling the current weight to 54% for elementary and middle schools, while proficiency, which was weighted at 70%, will drop to 46%.

Brumley said some schools were not being fairly assessed because the heavy weight on proficiency was clouding their rate of student improvement.

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“We heard from schools that serve a population of students who are economically disadvantaged that they’re growing kids year after year,” Brumley said, adding the schools “weren’t necessarily being recognized for their work.”

In high school, 70% of the grade was based on graduation rate along with college and career readiness metrics, 25% was based on course exam scores, and 5% had a weight for course offerings. The new system would overhaul those weights to make 75% of a high school’s rating end-of-course test scores, and 25% of the weight will be graduation rates and readiness.