It takes hard work to get an ‘A.’
Fora Louisiana public school system, it means ensuring students show strong academic performance, based mostly on test scores, but also taking into account year-over-year improvement, high-level courses such as Advanced Placement and the graduation rate.
Last year, only 10 Louisiana school systems received ‘A’ scores from the state education department, out of 72 assessed systems. Those communities consider the designation a "badge of honor" that attracts new residents and businesses.
Lafayette Parish School System leaders believe the district is on its way to joining them.
“I look at our resources and our capacity and our ability to be more effective, and I sense that Lafayette is a school district that should be functioning at the ‘A’ labeled bar. That’s what drives me every day,” said Lafayette Parish Superintendent Donald Aguillard.
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Last fall, Lafayette Parish received a district score of 89.2, enough for a solid ‘B’ and 10.8 points away from the minimum score of 100 needed for an ‘A.’
The state will release new scores in November. Lafayette officials said there are indicators the district is inching closer to ‘A’ status.
Principals were instructed to strive for a growth of at least 2.5 school performance score points each year. So far, it appears many schools are meeting or exceeding their goals.
“There are tremendous efforts from many organizations to really try to capture the attention of the nation that Lafayette is a great place to start a business, raise a family and build your future,” said Jay Jackson, a longtime public education advocate and member of the Lafayette Parish Education Stakeholders Council.
“Being an ‘A’ district to me is almost like one of the foundation building blocks to make that possible.”
How Lafayette is working to get there
Since Aguillard became superintendent in spring 2015, there's been a strongemphasis on addressing individual student needs.With almost 30,000 students at more than 40 sites, the district is attemptingto help everyone from struggling elementary readers to high-schoolers who are earning college credits.
Teachers have long known that they need to change up their instruction based on students' different levels, but it's a philosophy that now appears to be taking hold at a broader level. New software programs tailor lessons specifically to individuals. High schools' instructional focus periods can look vastly different for each student.
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Annette Samec, the district’s chief academic officer, said one key component this year has been fall, winter and spring assessments that measure growth in multiple areas.
“Our teachers are setting goals. We are setting goals with our teachers for their growth,” Samec said. “At the winter point, principals meet with the teachers to talk about what’s working, what’s not, what needs to be adjusted.”
Samec said recent results show 10 out of 11 grades met or exceeded Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) growth targets in math and reading. In English, eight out of nine grades met or exceeded growth targets.
“This year, they are setting their growth targets again. We are going to bump it up just a little bit higher to encourage our teachers to close some of those achievement gaps,” Samec said.
Brian Hebert, the district’s director of middle and secondary schools, said there is more of an effort to let middle school students take high school-level courses.
There also are targeted intervention programs at middle schools.Lafayette Middle, Acadian Middle, Scott Middle, Judice Middle and Carencro Middleare piloting an extended day program to give studentsextra support.
“The students meet with teachers for 90 minutes a day, for three days a week,” Hebert said. “They start with their NWEA scores, and their instruction is targeted based on those scores. It’s a virtual learning program, and the teachers work along with the students to give them the skills they need. Hopefully we can close some of those gaps and get these students ready to be successful in high school.”
At high schools, Hebert said instructional focus periods have been redesigned to offer different opportunities. Some students need remediation. Others work on Advanced Placement or ACT test preparation.
If a student is thinking about dropping out of high school, Hebert said there is now more focus on keeping the student in school, or inviting them back to the system if they have dropped out. There’s more encouragement for students to take AP or college-level exams, giving their diplomas more weight in the state accountability system and more opportunities for students.
All this is happening amid an expansion of the Fast ForWord literacy program, which is now in 25 schools; a requirement for principals to spend 40 percent of their time in classrooms; a stronger effort this past summer to hire and place certified teachers and plans for a non-traditional school in 2017.
“It’s about addressing the needs of each child,” Aguillard said. “We’re helping students get higher ACT scores on the high school end. We’re helping kids stay on track to be promoted. We want more kids in the eighth grade to take Algebra I, so that when they get to high school, they’ve got one more credit they can pursue.
"It really is about opportunities for all children to be successful.”
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How other districts have done it
West Feliciana Parish has maintained an ‘A’ rating for the past several years, and is frequently cited as one of the state’s top school systems.
Superintendent Hollis Milton attributed the score to several factors.
The district has universal pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds. They emphasize teacher collaboration and professional learning communities. Its high schools have mentoring programs. Elementary schools work on building leadership skills among the youngest students.
“It’s really a holistic approach,” Milton said. “All of our students set goals academically and set goals for other things they are passionate about. They all have a data binder they use to reflect on their progress. The students are the ones leading the conferences with their parents and teachers.
"When you have kids doing these activities, you are getting them to take ownership of their learning, and that is so important for every child.”
Milton said the rural West Feliciana system, with its four schools and 2,200 students,has long enjoyed strong community support, but the continued ‘A’ rating tends to propel everyone to want to continue that success.
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“It becomes like a badge of honor,” he said. “You hear teachers talk about how the next initiative might be hard, but they are willing to do it because that’s what an ‘A’ district does. I think it builds a mindset. You get more people involved, more people engaged, more people wanting to be a part of the success.”
Ascension Parish has received ‘A’ ratings from the state for several years running. The district has about 22,600 students at 27 sites.
Superintendent David Alexander said he’s always proud when those scores come in. But he also sees it as a good point to reflect on what’s working and what needs improvement.
“When you are talking about a ranking, you are looking at how you line up with the accountability system,” Alexander said. “Then you have to say, let’s not be satisfied with the fact that we’re an ‘A.’ Let’s look for opportunities where we have challenges and what we can do to accomplish even more.”
Alexander can’t attribute Ascension Parish’s high scores to asingle factor, but believes its focus on literacy and math fluency have been key reasons. The district also works to build instructional support on all campuses, including mentor teachers and teacher-coaches.
“To ignore a challenge means you’re ignoring the face of a kid,” Alexander said. “Let’s say you’ve got a 90 percent graduation rate. You’ve got to be proud of that, but you’ve also got to be curious about those 10 out of 100 kids who didn’t graduate. Maybe you can’t do something about all 10, but is there three you can work with?
"You start looking for the incremental changes. That’s where the cycle of success comes from.”
What it means for the community
LAPESC's Jackson, who spent years as an executive at Stuller, said when he interviewed prospective employees, one of their first questions was always about local public schools.
“There was a great deal of skepticism and uneasiness in coming to Lafayette and bringing kids here,” Jackson recalled. “They would opt for private schools, regardless of how much we told them that Lafayette has outstanding public schools.”
Jackson is encouraged by the results he’s seen so far, the support for such programs as Leader in Me and an enhanced focus on Jump Start career training.
He believes the school system is on track toward ‘A’ status, but noted that a truly successful district has more than a high letter grade.
“There is a difference in looking good and being good,” he said. “Without eliminating the achievement gap, you can never really say that we really deserve that excellent rating … Being an ‘A’ district is just one piece of the pie. You really need to take a holistic look at it and not just that one number.”
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LPSS leaders agree, and have implemented several measures to address the needs of students in the lowest-rated schools. Several district officials are tasked solely with working with those students and teachers. The lower-rated schools have smaller class sizes, and additional resources are being directed toward them this year.
Kathleen Espinoza, a founding member of Power of Public Education Lafayette, isn’t convinced an ‘A’ would necessarily translate to more public support for the schools.
Espinoza said many parents are more concerned about how their own children and schools are performing, rather than looking at the district as a whole.
PPEL has long questioned the state’s accountability system. Espinoza said many in the group maintain it only represents test scores.
In working to improve the district, Espinoza hopes officials consider other factors, such as programs available to students, the faculty’s experience and input, community engagement and active parent-teacher organizations.
“The letter grade is supposed to give parents information, and as it is, we are not getting information,” Espinoza said.
But as the accountability system stands now, Lafayette Parish School Board member Jeremy Hidalgo believes the district is inching its way toward an ‘A’ level.
Hidalgo said he has confidence the school system will reach that goal, and believes it could attract more businesses to the area. He hopes the high grade can be combined with a definitive plan to address widespread facility needs, including overcrowding and aging buildings.
“Companies are looking to move a lot of the time, whether it’s a startup or an addition to what they’re doing,” Hidalgo said. “They vet communities. When you start talking about an ‘A’ rated school system that includes a long term plan for better facilities, that can be a big win. How much better can it get than an ‘A’ school system with modern facilities and modern technology?”
LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE SCORES
Here are some recent LPSS district performance scores from the Louisiana Department of Education. The state changed the scoring scale between 2012 and 2013, from a 200-point scale to a 150-point scale.
2015: B, 89.2
2014: B, 90.0
2013: B, 90.5
2012: B, 109.5
2011: C, 97.6
LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM SCHOOL GRADES
Here is the breakdown of LPSS individual school grades in 2015:
‘A’ schools: 10
‘B” schools: 8
‘C’ schools: 14
‘D’ schools: 7
‘F’ schools: 1
HOW MANY ‘A’ DISTRICTS IN LOUISIANA?
Here is the breakdown of 2015 district performance scores from the Louisiana Department of Education:
‘A’ districts: 10
‘B’ districts: 30
‘C’ districts: 21
‘D’ districts: 9
‘F’ districts: 2
WHAT MAKES AN ‘A’?
The Louisiana Department of Education uses the following scale for district performance scores:
A – 150 to 100
B – 99.9 to 85
C – 84.9 to 70
D – 69.9 to 50
F – Below 50
For elementary schools, 100 percent of the grade is based on student test scores in English, math, science and social studies.
For middle schools, 95 percent of the grade is based on annual student tests. Five percent is based on credits earned through the end of the students’ freshman year.
In high schools, 25 percent of the grade is based on student performance on ACT or WorkKeys tests. Another 25 percent is based on end-of-course tests. Another 25 percent is attributed to strength of diploma, with more credit for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and other high achievements. The remaining 25 percent is attributed to the cohort graduation rate.
All schools may also earn additional points for showing significant improvement with students who are academically behind.
POSITIVE INDICATORS
In spring 2016 LEAP tests for third through eighth grades, Lafayette Parish students showed steady improvement in English, math and science. Forty-three percent of students scored at the mastery or advanced levels.
In spring 2016 LEAP science tests, 17 of 22 Lafayette Parish elementary schools showed growth, as did six of 12 middle schools.
Lafayette Parish was identified as one of the state’s top 10 districts for the number of students passing Advanced Placement exams. This year, the district had a 43.4 percent AP test passing rate, nearly 10 percent higher than the state average.
In the most recent end-of-course high school exams, there were increased scores in algebra I, geometry, English III and biology. The EOC index is expected to increase by approximately three points this year.
Lafayette Parish’s graduation rate was 75.9 percent in 2015, an increase of 7.1 percent from the previous year. The rate was 69.1 percent for black students, a 12.1 percent increase from 2014.
