School Accountability in Louisiana

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

No Child Left Behind (implemented in 2022)

• Required statewide accountability systems
• Annual testing in reading and math for grades 3-8
• Progress objectives linked to proficiency
• Assessments broken down by subgroups
• Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) are subject to corrective action and restructuring
• Parental choice for kids in schools that did not make AYP

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The World Before NCLB: Testing

• Nearly every state was requiring some testing in reading and in math, but
• They were not given annually
• Many were norm referenced which means students were being compared to their peers
• In 2002, only 9 states required that all students take an ELA test every year in grades 3 to 8. Only 7 had the same criteria in math.
• Louisiana began testing students in the spring of the 1998/99 school year. 4, 8, and high school took the LEAP, while other grades in the 3-8 took the IOWA. The IOWA was replaced with iLEAP in 2006

School Accountability Before, During, and After NCLB - Education Next

The World Before NCLB: Accountability

• States started using accountability systems in the early 1990s
• In 2002
• 29 states had some form of consequential accountability system.
• 14 states relied on transparency alone
• 7 states had no accountability system
• Louisiana began its accountability system in 1998

The World Before NCLB: Disaggregating

HEHS-00-89 Title I Program: Stronger Accountability Needed for Performance of Disadvantaged Students (gao.gov)

Letter Grades on 150 Point Scale

• A 90.0 to 150.0
• B 75.0 to 89.9
• C 60.0 to 74.9
• D 50.0 to 59.9
• F 0 to 49.9

Current System

The scale is 0 to 150.

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Advanced: 150

Mastery: 100

Basic: 80

Approaching Basic: 0

Unsatisfactory: 0

Current System

The scale is 0 to 150.

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Advanced: 150

Mastery: 100

Basic: 80

Approaching Basic: 0

Unsatisfactory: 0

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You can’t compare LEAP scores across time, but you can compare NAEP.

4^th Grade Math NAEP

4^th Grade Math NAEP Subgroup Data

4^th Grade Reading

4^th Grade Reading NAEP Subgroup Data

4^th Grade Reading

Current System: More Complicated

ACT Over Time and By Subgroup

Big Issues

• The state solution to fix failing schools is to charter them.
• The state voucher/scholarship law allows students in a C, D, or F to attend a private school.
• Our accountability system is highly correlated with poverty.
• K8 SPS -.81
• K8 Assessment Index -.81
• K8 Growth Index -.40
• HS Assessment Index -.79
• HS Growth Index -.48
• ACT Index -.65
• Strength of Diploma -.47
• Cohort Graduation -.37
• SPS -.77

The Current Accountability Debate

• Louisiana will become the first state to include K-2 in its accountability system. This was mandated by the passage of legislation. This portion of the accountability system will focus on literacy and literacy growth….for now.
• Any discussion of changes had to be bounded by these two assertions
• Any changes made to K-8 could not alter the distribution of A to F schools, unless it made them worse.
• The high school letter grade distribution must be brought into line with the K-8 distribution.
• Educators feel left out of the process.

The weight for growth is increasing (good thing), but the new formula is making it much harder for schools to earn growth points.