The recent impressive gains in education rankings Louisiana has experienced, alongside a handful of other southern states, are rooted in our policymakers’ belief in the power of accountability. States that take a clear and honest look at how students are doing – as Louisiana has for decades – are able to strategically address gaps and celebrate wins. Unfortunately, the courage to honestly evaluate education performance data is fading in other parts of the country. Those states should take a lesson from Louisiana, because while our recent significant rise in national rankings stems from a variety of targeted policymaker and educator activity, the role our accountability system played in that success cannot be overstated.
Education accountability has been a longstanding bi-partisan American policy, with roots as far as the Civil Rights Movement, which highlighted the need to address academic achievement gaps between white and minority students. The transparency that comes from measuring and reporting achievement data protects students and empowers parents, teachers, and policymakers with the information they need to make smart choices and improve schools.
As no accountability system is perfect, Louisiana has often refined its approach. The state is now set to implement significant changes with its new “Grow. Achieve. Thrive.” framework. The new system, in effect for this school year, aims to simplify the formula, place greater value on growth in academic achievement, and provide parents and other stakeholders with a more realistic evaluation of how schools – especially high schools – are preparing students for their futures.
The new system addresses what many have long perceived as an inconsistency in high school performance. While many Louisiana high schools have been earning As and Bs on the state’s accountability formula, their students have been earning low-to-average scores on the ACT and other measures of readiness for education and careers after high school. This discrepancy, where education leaders know that students are graduating without really being ready for what comes next, spurred the state board of education to act.
To more accurately reflect actual performance, the new system will create a curve in which “A” grades are awarded to the top 10% of schools, “B” to the next 20%, and so on. As schools continue to achieve higher scores in greater numbers, the scoring will become more rigorous; if 50% or more of schools or districts achieve an “A” or “B,” the score required for each letter grade will increase by five percentage points.
Perhaps most importantly, the new system takes what was once a complex formula and turns it into a simple average of 12 different indicators, sorted into three core areas.
- Grow: Measures students’ academic growth in core subjects, with special emphasis on the lowest-scoring 25% of students and English learners.
- Achieve: Assesses the percentage of students on grade level in math, English, science, and social studies.
- Thrive: Evaluates high school students on their on-time graduation rate, readiness for college or career as measured by nationally-recognized exams, and participation in career training, college coursework, or service activities.
The new system continues Louisiana’s practice of providing objective and comparable data to help leaders respond effectively, target support to students and schools most in need, and address achievement gaps for historically underserved students. It clearly communicates expectations for schools and students, defines the state’s values around student outcomes, and empowers parents with a clear sense of how their children are being prepared for the lives they desire.
The state has been working on these revisions for years, and diligent school districts have already started adapting their practices to meet the new expectations.
Louisiana has already demonstrated how these types of student-centered reforms can lead to measurable improvements in academic performance, and this new accountability system is another big step on the path that has our state’s education outcomes on the rise.
For more information on the Grow. Achieve. Thrive. Visit the Louisiana Department of Education
