August 2007 Bulletin Number 887

School Accountability in Louisiana

Mark J. Schafer

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887  Table of Contents

Introduction...... 3 Improving Louisiana’s Schools...... 3 Part I: Louisiana’s Accountability Program ...... 4 Part II. The State Picture...... 6 High-performing Schools...... 7 Low-performing Schools...... 7 Part III. Regional Trends...... 8 Northwest Louisiana...... 9 North Central Louisiana ...... 10 Northeast Louisiana...... 11 Central Louisiana...... 12 Southwest Louisiana...... 13 South Central Louisiana ...... 15 Southeastern Louisiana...... 16 Crescent Parishes of Louisiana...... 17 Part III. Implications, Recommendations and Discussion ...... 18 Implications ...... 18 Recommendations ...... 18 Discussion...... 21 References...... 22 Appendix A ...... 23 Appendix B. Schools Receiving Awards in 2001, 2003 and 2004...... 24 Author ...... 27

 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Introduction middle school grades and the first educational leadership drew upon three years of data for high schools. the diffusion model when they nego- School accountability involves tiated with Federal NCLB officials a a broad initiative to insure public Improving state plan requiring modest rates of schools meet minimum educational Louisiana’s Schools improvement through 2009 followed standards defined by state and fed- by rapid improvement from 2009- eral authorities. In 1999, the state of Louisiana’s accountability and 2014 (see below for more details). Louisiana set 10- and 20-year goals NCLB requirements are straight- At least two scholars of educa- (for 2009 and 2019, respectively) forward: All schools must achieve tion reform have questioned the for all public schools and required school performance scores (SPS) of applicability of the diffusion model. each school to demonstrate progress 100 by 2009, 120 by 2014 and 150 Lance Izumi (2003) argues that the toward those goals. School progress by 2019, respectively. Schools may incentive system makes it unlikely primarily meant improving student achieve these goals incrementally. change will occur faster over time. test scores while increasing atten- For example, a school with a 1999 Specifically, to demonstrate progress dance and reducing dropouts. SPS of 60 could achieve its 10-year schools must increase the percent- School accountability became and 15-year goals (SPS=100 and age of students who “clear the bar” federal law with the passage of the 120, respectively) by improving by meeting the minimum accept- No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act its SPS by 4 points each year. To able scores on standardized tests. of 2001 that set an additional re- achieve the 2019 goal of SPS=150, Therefore, according to Izumi and quirement that all public school pu- the annual rate of improvement others, schools devote resources and pils in the United States will achieve would have to be 4.5 points per year. energy to “bubble-students” whose proficiency by 2014. For Louisiana, Diffusion theorists argue that achievement levels are just above or NCLB meant some adjustments in change at the level of educational below the minimum standard. Their the way schools demonstrate im- systems occurs, not linearly, but in short-term goal is to insure those provement. Specifically, since 2001 an S-shaped fashion like the learn- below the bar, but close, improve schools have been required to dem- ing curve (Rogers 1995). Diffusion enough to clear the bar while those onstrate progress both at the overall theory may be applicable to the who are just above the bar do not school level and among federally case of school accountability in fall back below it. Boorer-Jennings defined subgroups of students. Louisiana. It holds that an innova- (2004) employs the term “education- School accountability has tion (in this case, the innovation is al triage” to describe this incentive been controversial, nationally, and the idea of holding schools ac- structure, because the needs of both flexibility has been introduced to countable for student outcomes by overachievers and severe under- give schools, districts and states requiring them to achieve minimum achievers are unmet while schools more options in determining how standards) takes time. Student test focus on the middle group. The to measure progress (For example, scores may only increase gradually lowest-performing students have “Safe Harbor” provides alternative in the initial stages of change, espe- the most room for improvement, means for schools, districts and cially for students in higher grades, but there is a disincentive for school states to meet their requirements.) because much of their schooling officials to invest resources in the Debate continues over how best to came before the accountability era, lowest-performing students because implement accountability, but the and learning is a cumulative pro- the school will not be judged by No Child Left Behind concept has cess. Over time, as accountability- how much individual children learn received broad-based support among enforced standards begin to be met, in a given year, but only by the pro- Louisiana’s educational, political we might expect more and more portion meeting minimum required and opinion leaders. students to meet expectations, and scores on standardized tests. Whether school accountability aggregate school scores to improve. NCLB subgroup requirements programs have improved student The rate of improvement would then might be seen as a mechanism to learning in Louisiana is an impor- be expected to slow down again discourage schools from educational tant empirical question to explore. near the end of the process, after triage, because they attempt to en- This report begins to address this most have achieved proficiency and sure schools will not benefit, even in question by examining in detail the schools focus on improving the test the short term, from ignoring some first five years of data on school scores of the remaining, most low- of the more disadvantaged groups of performance for the elementary and performing students. Louisiana’s students.

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887  These two conceptualizations of A secondary purpose of this in comparison to others in their co- performance growth contradict each report is to suggest implications hort. To calculate each school’s SPS, other. Diffusion suggests limited for educational policy as Louisiana student LEAP and Iowa test scores short-term but more profound and moves further into the era of school are aggregated to create indexes, transformative long-term change. accountability and NCLB. The final which are then added together, along “Educational Triage” suggests short- section of the report, therefore, both with other index scores for school term gains that will become more summarizes the state and regional attendance and dropout rates (for and more difficult to sustain over the trends (parts I and II) and discusses seventh grade and above). long haul. some implications for future educa- The data for 1999, the initial A range of factors influence tional policy. year of accountability, were as whether a new idea (i.e., holding follows: public schools accountable) leads Part I: Louisiana’s Schools 1,133 to systemic change and school Accountability Program Mean SPS 70 improvement over the long term. Standard Deviation  Often, innovations are resisted, co- Louisiana’s school account- High SPS 156 opted or otherwise fail to stimulate ability program and NCLB require Low SPS 10 the desired change. Institutional all schools and districts to achieve theory argues that organizations rapid performance improvements Louisiana’s accountability rules often adopt similar structures and over the next several years. At the require all schools to achieve an SPS processes to meet similar chal- school level, the measure of perfor- of 100 by 2009 and 150 by 2019, lenges even if those structures fail mance is an index called the School while the NCLB requirement of to adequately help the institutions Performance Score, or SPS. Each “all students achieving proficiency deal with their challenges—a phe- school’s SPS is based on student by 2014” means that schools must nomena referred to as isomorphism scores on standardized tests (90 achieve an SPS of 120 by 2014 (DiMaggio and Powell 1991). percent) and student attendance and (Franks 2004). Louisiana negoti- dropout (10 percent). This bulletin has three purposes: ated with the Federal Department (1) to explain the essential elements There are two kinds of stan- of Education to define SPS=120 of Louisiana’s school accountability dardized tests. First are “criterion- as meeting NCLB requirements program, (2) to summarize major referenced” tests, including the (even if, in practice, each and every trends from the first five years of fourth- and eighth-grade Louisiana student in any particular school is school accountability at the state and Educational Assessment Program not “proficient”). Assuming linear regional levels and (3) to point out for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) tests improvement, the average or typical implications for educational policy and the Graduate Exit Examination school in 1999, with an SPS of 70 in the state. for the 21st Century (GEE 21) tests. was expected to improve its score by The report’s primary objec- Criterion-referenced tests measure the thresholds shown in Table A. students’ performance against grade- tive is evaluative, to answer this As long as states comply with level expectations (i.e., do eighth basic question: “To what extent are federal NCLB requirements, they graders know what eighth graders Louisiana schools moving toward have freedom to develop account- should know, and can they do what the long-term accountability goals?” ability plans that fit their specific they should be able to do?). Second, To address this question, it reviews needs. Louisiana’s accountability norm-referenced tests are adminis- the evidence from 1999 to 2004 in plan was in place prior to NCLB and tered to third-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- mostly descriptive detail at both the it has received recognition by one of and ninth-grade students. Louisiana state and regional levels. Further, the nation’s premier education jour- uses the Iowa Test of Basic Skills the report compares progress toward nals, Education Week, for its efforts (developed by the University of accountability across typologies to improve both student and school Iowa and commonly known as of school districts. The report also performance. discusses ways in which aggregate the Iowa test). In norm-referenced Louisiana is an ideal case study student characteristics such as race, tests, each student’s score is com- of school accountability. Although poverty and disability status have pared to other students across the the state has a comparatively poor influenced school performance, but United States taking the same test. track record of public schooling, its in less extensive detail. Therefore, norm-referenced tests show students relative performance leaders appear to have made a com-

 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Table A. Thresholds for “Typical” School (1999 SPS = 70) to Achieve Figure 1. School Performance State and No Child Left Behind Accountability Goals, Assuming Linear Score Increase, 1999 – 2004 Improvement. (Source: Louisiana Department of Goal SPS Needed SPS Increase Per Education). Year Goal Increase Years Year LEA District Number of schools 001 Acadia Parish 26 009 00 30 pts 10 .0 002 Allen Parish 11 0 0 50 pts 15 .7 003 Ascension Parish 21 004 Assumption Parish 0 019 50 80 pts 20 .0 005 Avoyelles Parish 13 006 Beauregard Parish  007 Bienville Parish 8 008 Bossier Parish 29 mitment to school accountability as as for subpopulations of poor, mi- 009 Caddo Parish 66 a mechanism for school improve- nority, disabled and limited English- 010 Calcasieu Parish 57 ment. Moreover, Louisiana’s diverse proficiency students. Louisiana’s 011 Caldwell Parish 6 012 Cameron Parish 6 population enables important sub- system, however, also recognizes 013 Catahoula Parish 9 group and regional comparisons: (1) that schools are embedded within 014 Claiborne Parish 8 About 48 percent of public school districts and, therefore, sets bench- 015 Concordia Parish 10 016 DeSoto Parish 11 students are white, 48 percent black marks for both schools and districts 017 East Baton Rouge Parish 86 and 4 percent other races; (2) more to achieve overall goals. The sys- 018 East Carroll Parish 6 019 East Feliciana Parish 7 than 65 percent of the public school tem also considers that schools are 020 Evangeline Parish 14 students are eligible for free or embedded within communities with 021 Franklin Parish 9 reduced lunch service; (3) about diverse student populations differen- 022 Grant Parish 8 023 Iberia Parish 30 30 percent of students attend urban tially endowed with economic and 024 Iberville Parish 8 schools, about 28 percent attend social resources necessary for aca- 025 Jackson Parish 7 026 Jefferson Parish 80 schools in urban fringe or suburbs, demic success. Finally, the system 027 Jefferson Davis Parish  and the remaining 42 percent attend emphasizes level of performance 028 Lafayette Parish 40 small town and rural schools; and, (SPS) and improvement in school 029 Lafourche Parish 27 030 LaSalle Parish 9 finally, (4) school districts range in performance (growth in SPS, mea- 031 Lincoln Parish 12 size from small rural districts with sured by adequate yearly progress or 032 Livingston Parish 36 033 Madison Parish 6 fewer than five schools and 1,000 AYP). 034 Morehouse Parish 16 students to large urban districts with The Louisiana system provides 035 Natchitoches Parish  036 Orleans Parish 115 more than 100 schools and 45,000 positive incentives for schools 1 037 Ouachita Parish 33 students (See figure 1). achieving accountability goals, 038 Plaquemines Parish 8 Louisiana successfully negoti- as well as negative incentives for 039 Pointe Coupee Parish 8 040 Rapides Parish 48 ated the use of confidence intervals schools failing with unaccept- 041 Red River Parish 3 as a mechanism to resolve conflict- ably low performance scores or 042 Richland Parish 11 043 Sabine Parish 12 ing obligations under NCLB. First, demonstrating inadequate rates of 044 St. Bernard Parish 13 Louisiana meets the requirement improvement. The state reviews 045 St. Charles Parish 19 of including all subgroups in each each school’s progress toward the 046 St. Helena Parish 3 047 St. James Parish 10 school’s performance calculations. long-term goals annually. Schools 048 St. John the Baptist Parish 0 Second, confidence intervals insure demonstrating satisfactory progress 049 St. Landry Parish 36 050 St. Martin Parish 17 “statistical” reliability of school 051 St. Mary Parish 26 performance scores because the 052 St. Tammany Parish 8 053 Tangipahoa Parish 35 intervals are broader for smaller 2For each subgroup and each test, Louisiana 2 054 Tensas Parish 4 subgroup populations. uses a 99 percent confidence interval 055 Terrebonne Parish 36 (alpha level of .01) to approximate rates of 056 Union Parish 12 In compliance with NCLB, improvement. This means the probability 057 Vermilion Parish 20 Louisiana’s system holds schools of making an error when calculating 058 Vernon Parish 18 accountable for the performance of improvement for any particular test or 059 Washington Parish  subgroup is very unlikely (less than 1 chance 060 Webster Parish 19 the entire school population, as well out of 100). At the school level, however, 061 West Baton Rouge Parish 0 Louisiana negotiated a 95 percent confidence 062 West Carroll Parish 8 interval (alpha level of .05), arguing that 063 West Feliciana Parish 5 aggregating all tests across all subgroups 064 Winn Parish 8 1Figures represent pre-Hurricane Katrina (and adjusted for significant correlation of 065 Monroe City 19 enrollments. tests) requires a less stringent approximation. 066 Bogalusa City 8

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887  receive rewards. This system re- Table 1. School Performance Score (SPS) by Year. quires lower-performing schools to Year Schools Mean Standard Low High demonstrate faster rates of improve- SPS Deviation SPS SPS ment. The state requires schools that 1999 Start cannot demonstrate adequate yearly 999 1133 70.6 .4 9.8 55.9 progress to develop and implement 000 1133 76.5 .3 8.0 61.5 more detailed plans for improving 001 1132 78.8 . . 58.9 their performance, and to provide a 002 1132 81. .1 7.8 56.3 more detailed monitoring of re- 003 1133 81. .7 0.9 56.0 sources. State-level involvement and 2004 1133 83. . .8 55.4 school-level requirements become 2001 Start more intense if schools fail to dem- 001 218 72. 6. .7 94.2 onstrate progress for two or more 002 223 73. 6. 0. 94.8 consecutive years. The state has 003 242 76.7 6.5 .8 93.6 also permanently closed persistently 004 242 84.7 7.5 5. 01.9 low-performing schools unable to demonstrate improvement.3 For the schools entering the Louisiana’s accountability Part II. The State Picture system in 1999, the mean SPS plan does not, however, assume increased 12.6 points, from 70.6 in linear growth. It assumes a diffu- Louisiana’s public school en- 1999 to 83.2 by 2004, or a 2.5-point sion pattern of growth, with slow rollment fell from 765,000 students increase per year. Again, assuming initial gains followed by more rapid in 1998 to 731,000 students by the linear improvement, this would fall gains. Thus, the state negotiated a end of 2004. Forty-two percent of short of the 10-year (2009) goal, plan that is “backloaded,” follow- the schools are located in rural com- and far short of the more stringent ing a stair-step pattern of test score munities, 27 percent in urban cen- (2014) NCLB and 20-year (2009) improvement, requiring aggregate ters, and the remaining 31 percent goals. At this rate, the average test scores (e.g., the percentage on the fringe of metropolitan areas. school will barely meet the state’s of students passing at proficiency The first SPS scores were reported 2009 goal but will fall far short of level for each respective test) to, for 1,172 elementary, middle and the NCLB goal for 2014 (Illustrated first, increase over 3-year cycles combination schools (schools with in Figure 2 with the linear projection (2002-2004, 2005-2007, 2008-2010) some combination of elementary, line). and, thereafter, increase each year middle and high school grades) in 1999. High schools received their Figure 2. Louisiana SPS Growth 99-04 first SPS scores in 2001. Table 1 shows the number of schools for which SPS scores were reported by year.

3In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana’s accountability requirements were adjusted in light of the unprecedented mass movement of people and students from schools in affected parishes to schools throughout the state and across the nation. In addition to suspending the high-stakes testing requirements for the 2005-2006 year, there may be longer-term adjustments to the school-level accountability requirements. Nonetheless, state education officials remain fully committed to meeting NCLB goals by 2014.

 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 across 38 districts, and 60 percent Table 2. Number and Percent of Schools achieving 10- and 15-year were rural schools. In comparison to Goals. urban and fringe schools, fewer ru- Year Schools SPS >100 Percent SPS>120 Percent ral schools were represented among 999 7 0 9 8  000 7 76 5   the highest-performing schools, 00 90 6 6   but more rural schools were more 00 8 66 9 9  consistently able to retain their 00 8 7 0 8  reward eligibility over time. Further 00 75 0 5 5  analysis revealed nine of the top 20 schools were rural, but only two were among the 10 most improved from 2011-2014. By 2014, NCLB and St. Tammany) have over half the and none among the five most im- requires schools to report that all schools currently meeting NCLB proved schools listed in Table 3. students pass all exams at 100 requirements. By contrast, only 10 percent proficiency (an SPS of 120 NCLB schools in 2004 (19 percent) Low-performing Schools and subgroup SPS scores of 120 are are rural schools. Louisiana’s worst schools supposed to be equivalent to 100 Schools meeting growth targets – those with a combination of low percent proficiency). Obviously, this are eligible to receive rewards. Since performance scores and minimal plan assumes the pace of improve- the state moved from biennial to performance growth or decline ment will increase dramatically annual growth targets, rewards were – have been labeled unacceptable. over time. In fact, the plan requires determined for the 2001, 2003 and The number of unacceptable schools test scores to improve more in the 2004 school years. Eligibility for initially declined, then increased as last three-years of the NCLB cycle reward was partially determined by follows: (from 2011-2014), than in the first a school’s starting point, partially by 1999 53 seven years. Thus, this backloaded overall improvement and partially 2001 39 plan leaves Louisiana little flex- by improvement of subcategories of 2002 40 ibility to revise its goals after 2010 low-income and minority students. 2003 83 (Louisiana Accountability Plan Schools with lower initial perfor- 2004 78 2003, Franks 2004). Figure 2 also mance were required to improve at illustrates the planned, stair-step a faster rate to meet the long-term The vast majority of these pattern of projected improvement in goals. In the first cycle, 60 percent schools are located in urban ar- math scores from 2003 to 2014. of the schools (805 of the 1,172 eas, particularly in Orleans Parish High-performing Schools schools) were eligible for rewards. School District. Of schools eligible for rewards in Considering only the 1,041 Table 2 lists the number of 2001, only 152 (13 percent) were schools that had not yet met the schools with an SPS over 100 by eligible again in 2003, and only 62 state’s 10-year goal by 2004 (e.g., year. The number of schools achiev- schools or 5 percent were eligible to SPS < 100), 109 (or 10.5 percent) ing the 10-year goal has increased receive rewards all three years. Of had lower 2004 SPS scores than each year. After five years of ac- these, 37 were rural, 17 fringe and their initial SPS scores in 1999 or countability, about 25 percent of all eight urban schools. Schools eli- 2001. The performance of almost 15 schools (340 schools) had achieved gible to receive rewards are listed in percent of urban schools declined, the 10-year goal of an SPS of 100 Appendix B; they were distributed or higher. Still, only 53 schools (4 compared to 11 percent of fringe percent) have met the NCLB 2014 target of SPS greater than 120 by Table 3. Five Most-improved Elementary Schools, 1999-2004. 2004. School District SPS SPS SPS The 53 schools meeting NCLB 999 004 Increase goal of SPS>120 by 2004 are listed Fairfield Elementary Caddo 0. .1 +90.9 in Appendix A. Only 18 of the 66 Robert D. Moton Elementary Orleans 5.0 07.9 +82.9 school districts have schools rep- Robinson Elementary Ouachita 54.5 7.3 +62.8 resented in this category, and three William J. Fischer Elementary Orleans .1 71.6 +57.7 school districts (Caddo, Ouachita Glendale Elementary St. Landry 75.7 0.6 +54.9

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887  schools and only 7 percent of rural ment categories for each year from number of schools in a school dis- schools. 2001-2004. trict and continuous SI status. More In addition to declining perfor- Of the 1,478 public schools specifically, 14 percent of all con- mance scores, Louisiana’s account- in operation during this five-year tinuous SI schools were located in ability plan places “low-performing” period, 1,035 schools (75 percent) Louisiana’s largest school districts, and “slow-improving” schools into spent at least one year in SI status; while 8 percent were located in the a special status, originally labeled 505 schools (49 percent) have spent state’s smallest school districts. “corrective action” and, later, two or more years in SI status; 174 Although 35 percent of Louisiana’s “school improvement.” Here, the schools (13 percent) for three of schools are embedded within mid- term SI status will be used to avoid the four years; and 100 schools (10 size school districts, only 10 schools confusion. SI status schools are percent) continuously from 2001 to (2 percent) have been unable to required to develop improvement 2004. Of this last group, most were emerge from school improvement plans to help them achieve their located in urban areas. In fact, 15 status. Although additional research targets. If schools continue to fail to percent of Louisiana’s urban schools is needed, the implication is that reach their short-term performance were in improvement status continu- very large and very small districts targets, they are subject to additional ously from 2001-2004, compared to have more difficulties assisting their requirements aimed at helping them only 3 percent fringe schools and 6 lowest-performing schools to meet to achieve the long-term goals. Table percent of rural schools. accountability requirements. 4 presents a summary of schools in The bottom part of Table 5 corrective action/school improve- suggests a relationship between the Part III. Regional Trends This section examines school accountability trends within each Table 4. Corrective Action/School Improvement Label by Year. of Louisiana’s eight regions as Label 00 00 00 004 Ever defined by the LSU Agricultural CA  69 70 194 Center. These regions differ from CA 2 23 22 2 6 the eight districts demarcated by SI 1 545 554 794 the Louisiana Board of Elementary SI 2 5  75 and Secondary Education (BESE). SI 3 6  8 When created in 1974, Louisiana’s SI 4 1   6 eight BESE districts matched the SI 5 5 5 state’s eight congressional districts. They have changed somewhat since Total 216 200 613 625 1035 the state lost a congressional seat after the 1990 Census, but they still CA = Corrective Action generally reflect the population SI = School Improvement Ever = Ever in Corrective Action or School Improvement Status distribution within the state. Thus, Includes only schools with complete accountability data from 2001-2004 BESE District 1 has only two school districts, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes, while BESE District 2 Table 5. Continuous SI status from 2001-2004 by location & Size. contains only Orleans Parish. On the School Location Schools Percent other hand, 18 parishes in Northeast Urban 52 22 and Central Louisiana are grouped Fringe 8 3 together in BESE District 5. Rural 28 6 My decision to use the LSU Agricultural Center is more consis- District Size tent with my objective of comparing Small (<10 schools) 12 8 school accountability across distinct Med. Small (10-19 schools) 18 6 regions of the state, irrespective of Med. Large (20 – 50 schools) 10 2 population. Regional comparisons Large (More than 50 schools) 57 14 have the advantage of allowing

School Location includes only 1999 Start schools. comparisons both across and within

 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Table 6. School Performance 2004 and School Improvement 2001-2004 number of schools have declined in by Region. performance. Within each region, School Performance 2004 School Improvement 2001-2004 some schools realized significant SPS St. SPS St. gains in SPS while others had lower Region 004 Dev. Min Max 01-04 Dev. Min Max N performanace in 2004 then in 2001. Northwest 83.7 .0 0.8 76.2 7.1 9.6 -17.9 65. 52 We next take a more in-depth look at each region’s school performance North Central 83. .4 53. 07.7 9. 0.1 -27.5 6.1 53 under the school accountability era. Northeast 82. . 5. 0.2 7.9 .1 -20. 5.8 0 Central 90.6 7.1 58. 8.4 5.8 .2 -59. 7.9  Northwest Louisiana Southwest 91.5 6. 5.5 .5 6.3 8.9 -17. .  The Northwest region consists South Central 81. 6.6 . 5.5 6.4 8.3 -14. .  of seven school districts operat- Southeast 85.7 . . 68. .5 9.9 -40.7 7.0 7 ing 154 schools. Table 7 presents a Crescent 67.6 8. .0 99. .6 9.9 -26.6 7.7  descriptive picture of this region’s school accountability perfor- State Total 82.8 22.8 13.0 199.1 5.9 10.2 -59.1 65.4 1350 mance. The mean 2004 SPS for the Northwest region is a respectable 84.8; slightly above the state mean urban, suburban and rural locations. Table 6 presents a regional of 83.4. Bossier Parish had the high- comparison of school performance est mean SPS of the region’s eight It also would be possible to school districts at 94.6. By contrast, divide Louisiana’s school districts in 2004 and school improvement from 2001 to 2004. Average school Red River Parish has the lowest into metropolitan statistical areas, mean SPS of 66.5 (of course, with urban influence zones, commuting performance is highest in the Southwest and Central regions at only three schools there is potential zones or some other way of group- for much variation). ing together parishes. Regional 91.5 and 90.6, respectively, and low- economists would be interested in est in the Crescent region at 67.6. In addition to an above-average such comparisons. They might tell The Crescent, Southeast, Northwest 2004 SPS, the Northwest region us, for example, how schools in the and Northeast regions have greater showed above- average SPS im- Baton Rouge area (the city an its variation in school performance provement from 2001-2004, in- outlying commuting zones), have (indicated by the higher standard de- creasing performance scores by 7.1 been performing relative to schools viations) than the other four regions points compared to the state mean in the New Orleans, Shreveport, of the state, reflecting the perfor- of a 5.9 point improvement. Despite Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe mance differentials in the urban these gains, only 46 schools are “on and Alexandria areas. Although not areas of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, target,” meaning that if the 2001- specifically aligned with predefined Shreveport and Monroe where 2004 improvement were extended metropolitan or economic zones, there are both higher-performing linearly a decade into the future, the LSU Agricultural regions enable and lower-performing schools, on only 46 schools (30 percent of the comparisons across the states major average. region’s schools) would achieve cities. Being defined by spatial cri- The northern regions have all the No Child Left Behind target of teria, the AgCenter regions are all- demonstrated higher average school SPS>120. More than half of these inclusive. Further, they do not force improvement than the other regions schools would be in Caddo Parish fringe parishes into a particular zone of the state, but the higher average alone. or category, avoiding the debate over gains in SPS also have been ac- Some of Louisiana’s high- which parishes should and should companied by greater variability est-performing public schools are not be included in metropolitan, among schools within districts. The located in the Northwest region: commuter and urban influence, and fact that standard deviations are 36 schools have already achieved economic zones. For each region larger than mean gains (for the state: the 2009 goal of SPS greater than we explore the basic performance mean SPS gain = 5.9 and standard 100. Moreover, 12 schools (10 in of each school district, as well as deviation = 10.2) implies that the Caddo Parish) are already meeting positive and negative performance “typical” school in Louisiana and the NCLB 2014 goal of SPS=120. indicators. in each region has improved, but With only 11 percent of Louisiana’s it also implies that a substantial schools, Northwest Louisiana has

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887  portion of Northwest Louisiana Table 7a. Northwest Louisiana School Performance Summary by schools that are unable to meet their District. accountability targets. Moreover, School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Percent On excluding high performers, 21 District 00 001-2004 Target Target schools (18 percent) had lower SPS Bossier Parish 9 94.6 5.3 7 .1 scores in 2004 than in 2001, sug- Caddo Parish 66 82.6 7.  6.4 gesting a critical minority, a fifth of DeSoto Parish  80.2 8.5  8.2 all schools, are failing to keep up Natchitoches  79. .7  .3 Red River Parish  66.5 6.5 0 0 with state testing, attendance and Sabine Parish  84.7 8.9  .3 completion requirements. Webster Parish 9 87.5 0.1 7 6.8 In the Northwest region, Caddo Region Total 154 84.8 7.1 46 29.9 Parish is an urban district with both State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 more high- and more low-perform- ing schools. In contrast, the smaller, Table 7b. Northwest Louisiana High Performance and Improvement by more rural districts demonstrated District. a higher proportion of “average School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three school performances,” with fewer District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards exceptionally high- or exceptionally Bossier Parish 9    7  low-performing schools. Caddo Parish 66 8 0 8   North Central Louisiana DeSoto Parish  0 0 0 6  Natchitoches   0  5  North Central Louisiana is the Red River Parish  0 0 0  0 state’s smallest region in terms of Sabine Parish   0    schools and enrollments, consist- Webster Parish 9  0 6 8  ing of six small rural school dis- Region Total 154 36 12 19 54 11 tricts and 53 schools (Table 8). The State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 regional average SPS at 85.6 and SPS growth from 2001 to 2004 at Table 7c. Northwest Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by District. 9.2 both exceed the state averages School Schools Low SPS SI SI Percent in In of 83.4 and 5.9, respectively. Mean District Score Once Twice SI 200 Decline district school performances are rel- Bossier Parish 9 0 5 8 .0  atively similar ranging from 79.4 in Caddo Parish 66 0 6 6 7.0 8 Bienville Parish to a high of 92.4 in DeSoto Parish  0 8  5.5 0 Winn Parish. On the other hand, the Natchitoches   0 7 50.0  six districts realized various degrees Red River Parish     66.7  of improvement from 2001-2004, Sabine Parish  0 8  6.7  with Union Parish and Lincoln Webster Parish 9 0  8 .  Parish improving very slowly while Region Total 154 25 103 59 41.6 21 Bienville, Claiborne and Winn State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296 showed significant improvement during the three-year period. In Bienville, Claiborne and 23 percent of the schools currently accountability goals for school Winn parishes, more than half the meeting NCLB standards. Fifty-four performance increases. Twenty-five schools would achieve the No Child schools in the Northwest region schools in the region (20 in Caddo Left Behind goals if they continued were eligible to receive rewards un- Parish) had unacceptably low 2004 to improve at the 2001 to 2004 rate. der the state accountability system school performance scores. More As a comparison, in Louisiana as a two or more times, and 11 schools than 40 percent of the schools (64 whole, less than one in three schools were eligible to receive awards all schools) were placed in “school would satisfy NCLB requirements if three years. improvement” during the past two their recent progress were to con- Not all schools in the Northwest years. Though below the state aver- tinue. A fifth of the region’s schools region are responding to the school age, this still represents a significant have already met the 2009 require-

10 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Table 8a. North Central Louisiana School Performance Summary by highest-performing schools in the District. state, many achieved school per- School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Target Percent On formance gains from 2001 to 2004. District 2 00 001-200 Target To meet requirements of No Child Bienville Parish 8 79. .0 5 62.5 Left Behind, about half the region’s Claiborne Parish 8 81.0 9.4 5 62.5 schools will need to increase their Jackson Parish 7 85.6 9.  57.1 rate of improvement. Lincoln Parish  91. .2 5 .7 Northeast Louisiana Union Parish  82.0 .  5.0 Winn Parish 8 92. .8  50.0 The Northeast region of Region Total 53 85.6 9.2 26 49.1 Louisiana includes 118 schools in State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 10 school districts (Table 9). Nearly half the schools are located in Table 8b. North Central Louisiana High Performance and Improvement Ouachita parish (including Monroe by District. City schools). The regional mean School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three SPS was slightly below the state District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards average (82.9 compared to 83.4), Bienville Parish 8 1 0  5 0 with considerable variation across Claiborne Parish 8 1 0 5   districts. Seven of the 10 districts Jackson Parish 7 2 0 0   had below-average SPS scores, Lincoln Parish 12 4  0 0  0 and the mean district SPS ranged Union Parish 12 2  0 0   from 59.2 in Madison Parish to Winn Parish 8 2 0  8  102 in Ouachita Parish. Although Region Total 53 12 0 10 26 4 the Northeast region as a whole State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 achieved above-average school improvement from 2001-2004, Table 8c. North Central Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by this figure again belies significant District. district-level variation within the School Schools Low SPS SI SI Twice Percent in In region, since West Carroll, Richland District Score Once SI 2004 Decline and Morehouse parishes saw only Bienville Parish 8 0 7  5.0 0 modest gains in SPS, while East Claiborne Parish 8 0 6 5 7.5 0 Carroll, Franklin and Tensas saw Jackson Parish 7 0 5  8.6 0 substantial improvement from 2001- Lincoln Parish  0 7  .3 5 2004. Forty percent of the schools Union Parish 12 1  8 5 70.0  would achieve No Child Left behind Winn Parish 8 0  0 0 0 goals if they continued to improve Region Total 53 1 35 20 34.0 7 at the same rate and, although this State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296 falls short of the NCLB require- ment that all schools achieve an SPS of 120 or higher by 2014, it is still ment of SPS>100, but not one Despite above-average school quite encouraging for this region school had met the NCLB require- performance, nearly two in three with high rates of persistent poverty ment of SPS>120. Ten schools in North Central region’s schools had and low educational achievement the North Central region achieved been in SI status at least once, and as well as higher-than-average state above-average school improve- one in three was in SI status in improvement. ment from 2001-2004, and half had 2004. Seven schools in the North Most high-performing schools been eligible to receive rewards at Central region, including five in in the Northeast region of Louisiana least twice for their progress toward Lincoln Parish alone, had lower are located in Ouachita Parish meeting the accountability goals. 2004 SPS scores than 2001 scores. School District, where more than Moreover, only one school in the en- In general, the schools in North two-thirds of the schools have al- tire region had a below average SPS Central Louisiana are similar to the ready met the state’s 2009 account- score in 2004. schools in the rural parishes of the ability requirements, and five have Northwest region: while not the

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 11 Table 9a. Northeast Louisiana School Performance Summary by School improvement within the District. region has been more broad-based; School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Target Percent On the 29 schools’ demonstrating high District 2 00 001 - 200 Target improvement from 2001-2004 were Caldwell Parish 6 88.7 6.5  .3 spread relatively across nine of the East Carroll 6 77. 5.6  .3 10 districts. Despite the fact that Franklin Parish 9 74. .1 5 55.6 some rural schools high improve- Madison Parish 6 59.2 9.9  6.7 ment rates, there continue to be Monroe City 9 71.6 9.0 7 6.8 many low-performing schools in Morehouse 6 70. .3 6 7.5 Northeast Louisiana. The overall Ouachita Parish  02.1 9.0 7 51.5 regional percentage of SI status of Richland Parish 11 76.8 .8  7.3 41.7 percent understates the real- Tensas Parish  68.0 6.7  5.0 ity of substantial urban and rural West Carroll 8 99.2 0.7  50.0 differences. All four schools in Region Total 118 82.9 7.9 48 40.7 West Carroll parish and more than State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 60 percent of schools in Caldwell, Franklin, Morehouse and Richland Table 9b. Northeast Louisiana High Performance and Improvement by parishes were in SI status in District. 2004, compared to only 15 per- School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three cent of Ouachita parish’s schools. District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards Moreover, almost half (seven of 16) Caldwell Parish 6 0 0   0 of Morehouse Parish schools had East Carroll 6 1 0   0 lower SPS in 2004 than in 2001. Franklin Parish 9 0 0   0 In sum, the Northeast region, Madison Parish 6 0 0   0 being a region of the state marked Monroe City 9 4 0 7 0  by persistent poverty and weak Morehouse 6     0 school performance indicators, has Ouachita Parish 33 2  5 5   realized some school performance Richland Parish  0 0   0 gains in the first years of school ac- Tensas Parish  0 0   0 countability. On the other hand, the West Carroll 8 5 0 0  0 current rate of improvement will not Region Total 118 35 6 29 58 5 be sufficient for most of the region’s State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 schools, particularly those in the rural school districts, to meet their Table 9c. Northeast Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by District. long-term accountability goals. School Schools Low SPS SI SI Twice Percent in In District Score Once SI 2004 Decline Central Louisiana Caldwell Parish 6 0  0 66.7  The Central region of Louisiana East Carroll 6 2 5  .  has 115 schools spread across seven Franklin Parish 9 2 9 5 66.7  school districts (Table 10). Not only Madison Parish 6 2 5  .3 0 is the mean level of performance Monroe City 9 7  8 52.6  of 91.2 far above the state average, Morehouse 6 5  0 62.5 7 only one school district, Avoyelles Ouachita Parish    7 5.  Parish, had a below-average 2004 Richland Parish   9  63.6  SPS. Similarly, six of seven school Tensas Parish  0   0.0 0 districts showed above-average West Carroll 8 0   00.0  Region Total 118 20 80 43 41.7 23 school improvement. Rapides Parish State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296 School District, with more than 40 percent of the region’s schools, was the one notable exception with very met the 2014 NCLB requirements. for having five of eight schools with low school improvement of only 1.1 Of the rural school districts, West SPS>100. points. Still, at current improvement Carroll Parish deserves recognition 12 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 received two rewards, and at least Table 10a. Central Louisiana School Performance Summary by District. one school in each district (save School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Target Percent On Avoyelles) received three awards. District 2 00 001-200 Target Avoyelles  75.3 7.8  0.8 Only nine schools (out of 115) Catahoula 9 07.9 .1 7 77.8 in the Central region had 2004 Concordia 0 83.0 9.6  0.0 school performance scores far Grant 8 84.7 7.  5.0 below the state average; a regional LaSalle 9 98.5 8.5 5 55.6 proportion far below the state aver- Rapides 8 88.8 . 9 9.6 age. Similarly, fewer schools in the Vernon 8 04.5 0.  66.7 Central region were put into SI sta- Region Total 115 91.2 5.8 53 44.9 tus during 2001-2004 or had lower State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 SPS scores in 2004 than in 2001. It is worth noting, however, that 16 Table 10b. Central Louisiana High Performance and Improvement by schools in Rapides Parish, represent- District. ing a third of the district’s schools, School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three were in decline. Rapides Parish District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards school district is somewhat typical Avoyelles  0 0  6 0 of larger urban districts – with about Catahoula 9 6     one-third of the schools on target to Concordia 0  0    meet accountability goals, another Grant 8 0 0 0   third failing and the rest somewhere LaSalle 9  0  5  in between. Rapides 48 5  7 8  The vast majority of schools Vernon 18      in the broader Central Region have Region Total 115 39 4 22 50 8 improved under accountability, State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 although many will still need to in- crease their rate of improvement to Table 10c. Central Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by District. meet their long-term obligations. School Schools Low SPS SI SI Percent in In District Score Once Twice SI 2004 Decline Southwest Louisiana Avoyelles     .0  The Southwest region of Catahoula 9 0   7.0 0 Louisiana operates 236 schools in Concordia 0  5  5.5  10 school districts (Table 11). The Grant 8 0 6 0 50.0  mean district school performances LaSalle 9 0 5  66.7  range from 85.2 in Evangeline Rapides 48 5 9 7 6.7 6 Vernon 18 0 6  .  Parish to 101.7 in Jefferson Davis Region Total 115 9 65 28 41.6 23 Parish, and all 10 districts’ mean State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296 performance scores exceed the state average. Moreover, the region also has shown above-average school improvement from 2001 to 2004. rates, 53 schools (45 percent) would across the seven districts; two-thirds Thirty-seven percent of the schools meet the 2014 NCLB requirement were in Catahoula and Vernon in the Southwest region will meet of SPS equal to or greater than 120. parishes while Avoyelles and Grant NCLB requirements if they can In 2004, 39 of the 115 schools parishes had no high-performing continue the pace of improvement were performing at the level re- schools. Despite uneven distribution demonstrated from 2001-2004, quired for all schools by the state ac- of high-performing schools, districts again slightly higher than the state countability plan by 2009, although in the Central region all had a simi- average. lar proportion of schools realizing only four schools were performing The Southwest region has performance improvement, since at the level required by No Child left 17 percent of the schools, but anywhere from one-fourth to one- Behind by 2014. The high-perform- 24 percent of the high-perform- half of the schools in each district ing schools were not spread evenly ing schools (e.g., SPS>100) in

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 13 Louisiana. Moreover, high-perform- Table 11a. Southwestern Louisiana School Performance Summary by ing schools are spread relatively District. equally across districts in the region. School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth Percent On District 00 001-2004 On Target Target The Southwest region also saw sig- Acadia Parish 6 89. 0.0  53.8 nificant school improvement from Allen Parish  93.7 0.9 7 63.6 2001-2004 with 39 schools dem- Beauregard  00.1 7.  .3 onstrating above-average improve- Calcasieu Parish 57 93.6 5. 8 .6 ment, 114 eligible for rewards twice Cameron Parish 6 94.4 0.0 0 0 and 13 schools eligible for rewards Evangeline  85.2 8.5 5 5.7 three times. The region exceeded the Jefferson Davis  01.7 6.4 5 5.7 state average in all improvement cat- Lafayette Parish 0 89. .0  7.5 egories. Also, school improvement St. Landry Parish 6 87.6 6.5  6.1 was spread relatively equally across Vermilion 0 95.7 8.0 0 50.0 districts. Region Total 236 92.0 6.3 87 36.9 Only nine schools in the State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 Southwest region had 2004 SPS scores a standard deviation below Table 11b. Southwestern Louisiana High Performance and Improvement the state average. This represents by District. less than 4 percent of schools in the School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three region, whereas nearly 16 percent District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards of schools across the state exhib- Acadia Parish 6 8  8 9  ited low school performance in Allen Parish   0  9  2004. Similarly, the proportions Beauregard   0  8 0 of schools in the region placed in Calcasieu Parish 57   9   SI status once, twice or, by the end Cameron Parish 6  0 0  0 of 2004, were all far below the Evangeline   0  5 0 state average, further indicating Jefferson Davis  9 0  9 0 that this region, as a whole, outper- Lafayette Parish 0   7 9  formed other regions. Nonetheless, St. Landry Parish 6 9   6  although 32.5 percent of schools Vermilion 0 7 0    in SI status in 2004 is far prefer- Region Total 236 79 9 39 114 13 able than the state average of 46 State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 percent in SI status, it still means one out of every three schools in Table 11c. Southwestern Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by Southwest Louisiana failed to meet District. its short-term obligations under the School Schools Low SPS SI SI Twice Percent in In state’s and NCLB’s accountability District Score Once SI 2004 Decline requirements. Further, 40 schools Acadia Parish 6   5 8.5 5 representing nearly 17 percent of Allen Parish  0  0 8.  the region’s schools actually saw a Beauregard  0   8.  decline in SPS from 2001-2004, a Calcasieu Parish 57  9  9.8  significant percentage even if it is, Cameron Parish 6 0 5  50.0  again, lower than the average for Evangeline   9 6 0.0 0 the state. As in other regions, the Jefferson Davis  0  0 .3 0 urban-rural dimensions can be de- Lafayette Parish 0  8  50.0 0 tected in the Southwest region, with St. Landry Parish 6 0   0.0 7 some of the best (and worst) schools Vermilion 0 0 7  0.0  located in and around Lake Charles Region Total 6 9  5 .5 0 and Lafayette. The urban-rural State Total 75  915 505 6.0 96 differences do not appear to be as pronounced, however, in Southwest Louisiana.

14 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 South Central Louisiana Table 12a. South Central Louisiana School Performance Summary by The South Central region’s 12 District. parishes operate 213 schools with School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Target Percent On a slightly below- average mean District 2 00 001-200 Target regional school performance of Ascension Parish  96.8 7.8  57.9 81.8 (Table 12). Within the region, Assumption Parish 10 80.7 7.7  0.0 Iberia Parish 0 82.2 5.8 8 6.7 however, Ascension Parish is excep- Iberville Parish 8 71.0 .9  .5 tional with a mean SPS of 96.8, and LaFourche Parish 27 83.5 .9  .8 the other regional scores range from Point Coupee 8 68.7 8.6  5.0 a low of 68.7 in Point Coupee Parish St. James Parish 0 76.9 5.  0.0 to 84.4 in Terrebonne Parish. School St. John the Baptist 10 72.6 5.6  0.0 Improvement rates range from 3.9 in St. Martin Parish 17 80.2 8.9 6 5.3 Iberville Parish to 8.9 in St. Martin St. Mary Parish 6 78.5 6.5 8 0.8 Parish, for a regional mean slightly Terrebonne Parish 6 84.4 6.  0.6 higher than the state average. Still, West Baton Rouge 10 81.4 5.7  0.0 only about three in 10 schools in the Region Total 213 81.8 6.4 63 29.9 State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 region would meet NCLB obliga- tions with current rates of school Table 12b. South Central Louisiana High Performance and Improvement improvement. Again, Ascension by District. Parish is somewhat exceptional in School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three this case as 11 of its 21 schools have District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards improved at a rate that would allow Ascension Parish       them to meet the 2014 NCLB goals. Assumption Parish 10  0 0   Iberia Parish 0  0 5   South Central Louisiana has Iberville Parish 8 0 0   0 some high-performing schools, LaFourche Parish 27  0  6  but proportionately there are fewer Point Coupee 8 1 0 0  0 in this region than in the state St. James Parish 0 0 0  5  in general. The 31 schools with St. John the Baptist 10  0    SPS>100 in the region’s 12 par- St. Martin Parish 7  0 5 7 0 ishes, included 12 in Ascension St. Mary Parish 6  0  0 0 and seven in Terrebonne parishes, Terrebonne Parish 36 7   7  respectively. Only two schools (less West Baton Rouge 10  0   0 than 1 percent), however, currently Region Total 213 31 2 30 87 10 State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 meet the 2014 NCLB requirement of SPS>120. This is far below the Table 12c. South Central Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by state average of almost 4 percent. District. In terms of improvement, most of School Schools Low SPS SI SI Twice Percent in In the region’s districts have at least District Score Once SI 2004 Decline some high SPS growth schools and Ascension Parish   8 5 9.0  have had a share of schools eligible Assumption Parish 10  7  0.0  for rewards multiple times. The 87 Iberia Parish 0   9 60.0 6 schools eligible for rewards twice Iberville Parish 8 1 8  7.5  and the 10 schools eligible three Lafourche Parish 7 0 0  55.6 7 Point Coupee 8 4 7  75.0 0 times equal the state average. St. James Parish 0  7  70.0 5 About 10 percent of the South St. John the Baptist 10  8 5 50.0  Central region’s schools are low- St. Martin Parish 7   6 5.  performing schools, whereas about St. Mary Parish 6  9  50.0 7 16 percent of all schools in the state Terrebonne Parish 36  6  55.6 6 are low-performing. Nonetheless, West Baton Rouge 10 0 7  50.0  nearly as many schools in the Region Total 213 21 153 79 49.3 46 State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296 district had been placed in SI status

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 15 for failing to achieve short-term Table 13a. Southeastern Louisiana School Performance Summary by accountability goals, and nearly half District. were in SI status at the end of 2004. School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Target Percent On This regional percentage of District 00 001-2004 Target schools in SI status in 2004 belies Bogalusa City 8 69.1 -1.  .2 substantial differences across dis- E. Baton Rouge 86 71. .  5.1 tricts. For example, only 19 percent East Feliciana 7 68.7 .5  .9 of schools in Ascension Parish were Livingston 6 04.9 5. 8 51.4 in SI status in 2004 compared to 60 St. Helena Parish  64. 9.0  66.7 percent of schools in Iberia Parish, St. Tammany 8 05.5 .5 6 .0 70 percent of schools in St. James Tangipahoa 5 81.8 5.7 0 8.6 Parish and 75 percent of schools in Washington  81.3 6.  6.7 Point Coupee Parish, respectively. West Feliciana 5 03.2 7.9  60.0 Region Total 0 85.6 .5 68 8.7 Southeastern Louisiana State Total 75 83.4 5.9  .7 The nine school districts in Southeastern Louisiana operate Table 13b. Southeastern Louisiana High Performance and Improvement 240 schools and had a 2004 mean by District. regional SPS of 85.6, slightly School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three above the state average (Table 13). District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards The nine districts, however, vary Bogalusa City 8 0 0   0 considerably in their mean school E Baton Rouge 86 7  6   performance, ranging from 64.2 in East Feliciana 7 0 0    St. Helena to 105.5 in St. Tammany. Livingston 6      Livingston, St. Tammany and West St . Helena Parish  0 0   0 Feliciana parishes all have mean St. Tammany 8 7 9  8 0 2004 SPS above 100. Regional Tangipahoa 5 6   7  mean school improvement at 3.5 Washington  0 0   0 is far below the state average, but, West Feliciana 5 3 0   0 again, it masks considerable within- Region Total 240 67 14 21 66 5 region variation across districts. The State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 small, rural districts of St. Helena and East Feliciana parishes, despite Table 13c. Southeastern Louisiana Low Performance and Decline by having low average performance District. scores in 2004, actually achieved School Schools Low SPS SI SI Percent in In District Score Once Twice SI 2004 Decline significant gains from 2001-2004, Bogalusa City 8 0 7 7 87.5  with mean improvements of 19.0 E Baton Rouge 86  78 54 80.  and 12.5, respectively. By contrast, East Feliciana 7 1 6  .  St. Tammany and East Baton Rouge Livingston 6 0   .  parishes saw minimal improvement, St. Helena Parish 3 1    0.0 0 while Bogalusa City actually regis- St. Tammany 8 0 5  7.5 8 tered a net decline in school perfor- Tangipahoa 5  5 0 0.0 9 mance from 2001-2004. Only about Washington  0  6 58.  29 percent of the schools in the West Feliciana 5 0  0 0.0  Southeast region would meet NCLB Region Total 240 37 170 88 53.7 68 requirements if their 2001-2004 State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296 gains were projected linearly into the future. However, the percent- ages of schools on target for meet- ing NCLB goals are much higher Some of Louisiana’s best public Tammany Parishes. St. Tammany in Livingston, St. Helena and West schools are located in the affluent Parish alone has nine schools that Feliciana parishes. parishes in Southeast Louisiana, currently meet the 2014 NCLB re- particularly Livingston and St. quirements. The region as a whole, 16 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 with only 17 percent of the schools, to the more affluent districts of St. the state mean. Orleans Parish with has almost 26 percent of NCLB Tammany and Livingston. Thus, the 115 schools had particularly dis- schools. On the other hand, the dis- region houses some of the state’s mal school performance. Jefferson tribution of high-performing schools best and worst schools. Parish’s 80 schools had a higher within the Southeast region is very average 2004 SPS score (76.0) than uneven, since not a single school Crescent Parishes Orleans Parish, still well below the in Bogalusa City, East Feliciana of Louisiana state average. Moreover, Jefferson or Washington parishes has a SPS The final region in the state Parish achieved minimal gains in greater than 100, and only four of includes 235 schools operated in performance from 2001-2004, while the nine districts have any schools the five parishes in and around Orleans parish schools improved at meeting the NCLB mark of SPS New Orleans, with 195 schools a rate roughly equivalent to aver- higher than 120. As was the case in in Orleans and Jefferson parishes age improvement for the state. Still, other regions, school improvement (Table 14). The 2004 mean regional fewer than one in five schools in has been more broadly distributed SPS of 68.4 is 15 points lower either of the Crescent region’s major among school districts within the than the state average, although the school districts would meet NCLB region. All districts had at least one small districts of Plaquemines, St. requirements at the 2001-2004 high growth school as well as at Bernard and St. Charles parishes all rate of school improvement. By least one school eligible for rewards had district mean SPS scores above contrast, nearly half the schools in at least twice. The region also has its propor- tion of low-performing schools, all Table 14a. Crescent Parishes School Performance Summary by District. but six of which are located in East School Schools Mean SPS SPS Growth On Target Percent On Baton Rouge Parish, which has 31 District 00 001-200 Target low-performing schools, nearly Jefferson Parish 80 76.0 .0  7.5 15 percent of all low-performing Orleans Parish 5 54.0 5.7 9 6.7 schools in the state. Similarly, 78 of Plaquemines 8 93.5 5.9  50.0 the 86 schools in East Baton Rouge St. Bernard  87.4 6.9  5.0 have been put in SI status once, and St. Charles 9 99.6 .5 9 7.4 54 schools at least twice, while 80 Region Total 235 68.4 4.6 49 20.9 percent were in SI status in 2004. State Total 1375 83.4 5.9 442 32.7 Similarly, seven of eight schools Table 14b. Crescent Parishes High Performance and Improvement by in Bogalusa city and seven of 12 District. schools in Washington Parish, were School Schools SPS SPS High SPS Two Three in SI status in 2004, bringing the District Over 100 Over 120 Growth Rewards Rewards regional average to 53.7 percent in Jefferson Parish 80 4 0 9 5  SI status, far above the state aver- Orleans Parish 5      age. On the other hand, six of the Plaquemines 8 3 0  6  nine parishes had below-average St. Bernard 13 2  0 0 8 0 proportions of schools in SI sta- St. Charles 9 10 0 0 6 0 tus in 2004, including only one of Region Total 235 31 3 24 67 6 East Feliciana’s seven schools and State Total 1375 334 53 196 526 62 none of St. Helena’s three schools. Finally, 68 schools in the Southeast Table 14c. Crescent Parishes Low Performance and Decline by District. region had lower scores in 2004 School Schools Low SPS SI SI Percent in In than in 2001, and 41 of the 86 East District Score Once Twice SI 2004 Decline Baton Rouge schools had declining Jefferson Parish 80 16 6 9 59.5 9 school performance. The diversity of Orleans Parish 5 8 00 88 76.  school experiences under account- Plaquemines 8 0   7.5  ability from 2001-2004 within the St. Bernard  0 8  .  Southeast region reflects the diver- St. Charles 9 0 7  7.8  sity of schools and regions from the Region Total 235 100 181 131 62.5 68 urban schools in East Baton Rouge State Total 1375 223 915 505 46.0 296

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 17 Plaquemines and St. Charles par- of impacts on schools, districts and schools in the state by 2004. The ishes were improving at a rate that regions across the state. The mean NCLB requirement that schools would put them on target to achieve rate of SPS improvement from meet targets for each subgroup was the 2014 goal of SPS=120. 1999-2004 was 2 points per year. If the main force behind this increase, The 235 schools in the Crescent this pace of change continues, the but it was not the only reason. Many Region represent 17 percent of all “typical” school will have a 2009 schools have struggled to meet their schools in the state, yet less than 10 SPS of 92, which would fall short of targets for improvement. percent of the state’s high-perform- the 2009 goal of SPS=100. The state The fact that the state has ing schools (i.e., SPS>100) and projects, however, that the pace of taken steps to identify its failing only 6 percent of the state’s high- change will increase over time. schools may be received as a posi- est-performing schools (SPS>120) The mean school improve- tive impact of accountability, but are located in this region. Further, ment trends, therefore, indicate that whether Louisiana can then take only 24 schools achieved above-av- Louisiana has made adequate early steps to improve these low-perform- erage SPS gains from 2001-2004. progress in its first five years of ing schools is another issue. Of the These 24 schools represented only school accountability. The regional 51 schools labeled “academically 10 percent of the schools in the means also demonstrate positive im- unacceptable” in 1999, about one- Crescent region, whereas, statewide, provement in school performance, third improved substantially, another 14 percent of schools demonstrated with notable variation between third improved but not enough to high SPS growth. Further, 23 of the regions of the state. meet their targets, and the final third high-growth schools were in Orleans Although it is fine to start by stagnated or declined. The diver- and Jefferson parishes, while looking at state and regional mean sity of these 51 schools mirrors the Plaquemines had only one high- school performance and improve- experiences of the larger population growth school, and St. Bernard and ment, it is also important to ask of schools. St. Charles had none at all. Although about the diversity of schools’ In sum, the detailed review of the 67 schools that were twice eli- experiences with accountability. regional and district performance gible for rewards and the six schools At current rates of school improve- clearly indicates large numbers eligible three times should be ment, about one-third of all schools of Louisiana’s schools have been acknowledged, the region as a whole are on target to achieve their ac- struggling to achieve their ac- had a low proportion of schools countability goals, while two-thirds countability goals. achieve reward eligibility. Not will fall short of the 2009 target surprisingly, the Crescent region had of SPS=100. Of course, if rates of Recommendations the lowest indicators of performance improvement do increase, as in a The following policy recom- and decline: (1) 100 of the regions learning curve model of improve- mendations emerge from this review 235 schools, all in Orleans and ment, more schools will meet their of descriptive data on school im- Jefferson parishes, had 2004 SPS targets. Unfortunately, some indica- provement over the first five years of scores far below the state average; tors hint that more rapid improve- accountability: (2) nearly two-thirds of the region’s ment may be difficult for some of 1. Use existing measures to schools, and more than three-fourths Louisiana’s struggling schools. explore factors associated with of Orleans parish schools were in First, one of every five schools school improvement. School Improvement in 2004; and had a lower performance in 2004 School accountability requires (3) 68 schools were in decline. than in 2001, indicating declining schools and districts to report accu- performance as opposed to “slow rate data to assess rates of improve- Part III. Implications, growth.” Second, one of every six ment. Researchers can therefore use schools (219 schools) was classi- Recommendations available data to explore patterns in fied as either “academic warning” and Discussion school performance and improve- or “academically unacceptable,” and ment. The opportunities for quanti- the proportion earning these labels Implications tative analysis of accountability data has increased each year since the are vast and go beyond the scope The detailed descriptive picture inception of accountability in 1999. of this report, but I will give one presented in Part II of this report Third, the proportion of schools in short example to demonstrate how suggests Louisiana’s accountability School Improvement has increased existing data can be used to explore program has made differing types each year, reaching nearly half the

18 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 patterns in school performance and Table 15. Regression Analysis of Low School Performance and improvement. Inadequate School Improvement. Some scholars argue that School & Student Characteristics Low School Adequate School school-level characteristics influ- Performance Improvement encing performance must be distin- 1998 004 guished from student characteristics Student Characteristics and district-level factors. Student Poverty: Percent on Free & Reduced Lunch + 0 characteristics such as poverty, Race: Percent Minority + 0 minority status and disability status Disability: Percent Special Education Students + 0 can be aggregated to the school School Characteristics level as percentages. All else being Urban School 0 0 equal, schools with higher propor- Rural School 0 + tions of students in poverty, minority School Size: Total School Enrollment + - students and students with disabili- School Performance Score 1998 + ties would be expected to exhibit District Characteristics lower performance scores. Further, Small District 0 0 district-level characteristics can be Large District + 0 incorporated into quantitative analy- Approximated (Pseudo) R-Square .49 .10 sis to ascertain whether there are Number of Schools 1129 9 particular advantages/disadvantages + = significant positive effect for schools in certain types of school - = significant negative effect districts (i.e., exceptionally large 0 = no significant effect or small school districts). These multilevel analyses help deter- mine whether policies to stimulate mean SPS for all schools of 70.5. The initial year of accountabil- improvement should be made at the Adequate School Improvement ity was used as a baseline to assess school or district levels or whether 1998-2004 refers to 313 schools school improvement. The second certain constraints to improvement on target to meet their 2009 goal of column in Table 15 shows that go beyond the scope of the school SPS=100, assuming continued and rural schools and those with higher and require greater parental and/or linear improvement.4 initial SPS scores had higher odds community participation. The results of Table 15 show of making adequate improvement The simple regression analy- that schools with more minority stu- in the first five years, while larger sis presented in Table 15 shows dents, more students on free and re- schools had lower odds of adequate several student, school and district duced lunch and more students with improvement. The “positive” result characteristics associated with low disabilities had greater odds of low for initial SPS is particularly in- performance and adequate improve- initial school performance scores. formative; it supports the main ment. (Again, this is not meant to Schools with larger enrollments finding of the descriptive analysis be a comprehensive example, but and located in larger districts also presented in this report, which is just one example of potential types tended to have lower initial scores. that we are seeing a divergence of of analysis made possible by school Louisiana educators would expect school performance. Schools with accountability data collection ef- these results, because it was general- higher performance at the begin- forts.) The two dependent variables ly known that public school quality ning of the accountability program in the analysis indicate (1) perfor- varied considerably by poverty and are improving at a higher rate than mance level at the start of account- race. Also, it has been established their lower-performing counterparts, ability in 1998 and (2) improvement in the literature that larger schools at least in the initial years of school from the start of accountability until tend to have lower performance, on accountability in Louisiana. If this 2004. To simplify, the dependent average. result persists, the existing account- variables have be dichotomized. ability may not effectively meet the Low School Performance 1998 stated objective of No Child Left refers to 179 schools with a 1998 Behind: closing the achievement gap SPS less than 47, more than one 4Note: High schools are not included in the analysis because they started accountability by bringing students in low-achiev- standard deviation below the 1998 in 2000. ing areas up to minimum standards.

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 19 the different variables – poverty, race, teacher quality, school size, ur- ban location and others – affect the daily, weekly and monthly workings of the state’s schools. In short, they will provide a deeper understanding of the processes successful schools use to achieve their goals and why unsuccessful schools do not. 3. Use research data to target specific types of schools and districts. Louisiana has a diverse popula- tion of schools. Some are urban, some are rural. Some have few impoverished students, others have many students in poverty. Some have few minority students, some have nearly all minority students. This example demonstrates the whether school improvement re- Some have few students with dis- utility of regression analyses for sulted from accountability or would ability, some have many. Some identifying key factors that facilitate have occurred without the new schools have large student popula- or constrain school performance standards and requirements. and improvement. The state should tions, others have few students. 2. Learn from successful and continue to conduct research to tar- Louisiana schools have a wide unsuccessful schools. get these schools. More specifically, range of configurations, from a future research should (1) examine Variable-based research is valu- few elementary grades, to separate regions and districts separately to able for determining factors associ- elementary, middle and high schools further specify how location influ- ated with school improvement, but to combined K-12 inclusive schools. ences school improvement; (2) looking at specific schools as cases Schools also vary in teacher quality, include measures of school financial can be equally valuable for under- teacher turnover, parental involve- resources to determine the extent standing improvement processes ment, community connections and a to which funding influences im- in the real-world context. Part II wide range of other factors. It would provement; (3) include measures of demonstrates that every region of not be practical for the state to school processes related to atten- the state, and nearly every district, develop a unique assistance program dance, expulsions, suspensions and has at least some schools that have based on all these factors, but broad, dropout determination to explore thrived under accountability. The one-size-fits-all programs may not the extent to which such processes 51 schools listed in Appendix A meet special needs of certain types vary across districts and regions have already met the No Child Left of schools. and whether they influence school Behind requirements. Other schools In particular, the state should be improvement; and (4) incorporate have made tremendous improve- equally cognizant of the diversity of various measures of teacher quality ment over the first five years. What experiences of schools within both to determine the degree to which the makes these schools high perform- urban centers and rural districts. state’s efforts to raise teacher quality ers? And what is preventing other Although rural schools have fared has improved school performance. schools from copying theses suc- quite well, on average, schools Further, future analysis must assess cesses? Complete case studies of in economically depressed rural whether new or additional inputs some of the best and most improved regions have struggled. This diver- – such as the allocation of greater schools would provide half of the sity is also seen in cities like Baton resources, improving the number answer. The other half of the answer Rouge, Monroe and New Orleans, of highly qualified teachers and would come from comparisons with where some of the state’s lowest and reducing class sizes – are leading schools that have not had success high-performing schools are located. to school improvement. Otherwise, meeting accountability goals. These it will not be possible to determine case studies will help explain how

20 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Discussion we now have a strong foundation can take a number of steps to reduce Louisiana’s school accountabil- from which to build more effective negative peer influence and improve ity and the No Child Left Behind act programs to support the involvement the overall school environment for are equally unambiguous in holding of low-income parents. their students. schools responsible for the academic In a similar vein, schools and In particular, schools can take performance of their students. By districts should continue to assess steps to reduce school violence. implication, state and federal edu- the extent of peer influences on Within the school boundaries, cational leaders have told schools educational achievement. Education schools can institute policies such they can and must do a better job researchers are still trying to deter- as “safe havens,” install detec- delivering their services to the mine the extent of peer influences. tors and closed circuit cameras, public school students of this state. Qualitative research suggests peer train staff and teachers in violence Still, most scholars and educators influences can be substantial, par- awareness-and-reduction techniques fully recognize other influences on ticularly among black student popu- and institute educational programs student learning, particularly those lations. Quantitative studies have not aimed at conflict resolution, bully- of parents and peers. The No Child entirely confirmed or disconfirmed ing reduction and other objectives. Left Behind act requires states, the importance of peer influence. The success of school-focused districts and schools to develop pro- Some show significant peer influ- policies, however, will largely grams to increase parental involve- ence, others show negligible influ- depend on school-home-community ment. The act also requires states ence and others show peer influ- linkages such as volunteer parent to offer supplementary educational ence is particularly strong among patrols, school-community task services to students attending failing grades one to four, but then begins forces, family support programs and schools, and to inform parents about to weaken after fifth grade until it is similar programs that foster com- these services. States and districts negligible by the eighth grade. Still munication and linkages among the must also inform parents of their other research suggests early non- school, families and influential local options to enroll students in other academic school experiences may institutions. schools if their children’s current exert significant influence on later Specific programs to address school is not meeting its NCLB educational achievement. Students nonacademic factors constrain- requirements. All of these details who experience teasing and bullying ing school improvement should be point out the critical role parents and are more likely to drop out and less designed locally to meet the unique families play in all aspects of their likely to excel academically. Clearly needs of each school. On a general children’s lives, including academic more research is needed, but there is level, a more broad-based approach achievement. enough evidence that schools would to school improvement will likely Districts and schools can of- be remiss not to pay attention to the be needed if all Louisiana’s schools fer programs to increase both the potential of peer influences to foil are to meet their long-term account- levels and effectiveness of parental efforts to improve schools. Schools ability goals. involvement (Epstein 1996) by developing programs that take into consideration the constraints on par- ents’ time, especially single-parents, and also social factors that limit involvement. Annette Lareau’s research (1999) has highlighted several social constraints to effective parental involvement, including (1) status differentials between parents and teachers; (2) level of parental input in designing parental involve- ment programs; and (3) availabil- ity of support services for parents (e.g., child care during meetings). Although more work must be done, School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 21 References

Boorer-Jennings, Jennifer. 2005. “Below the Bubble: ‘Educational Triage’ and the Texas Accountability System.” American Educational Research Journal 42:231-259. Doran, Harold C. and Lance T. Izumi. 2003. Putting Education to the Test: A Value-added Model for California. Pacific Research Institute. Franks, Stephenie. 2004. NCLB: A Steep Climb Ahead: A Case Study of Louisiana’s School Accountability System. Report by the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana Inc. Louisiana Department of Education Web site. http://www.doe.state.la.us/ lde/index.html. Rogers, Everett M. 1995. Diffusion of Innovations, 4th Edition. Free Press. United States Department of Education. 2003. Louisiana Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook. U. S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplans03/index.html.

22 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Appendix A District School Name SPS 2004 Acadia Egan Elementary 120.4 Ascension Oak Grove Primary 125.2 Bossier Apollo Elementary 120.5 Stockwell Place Elementary 130.8 Caddo C.E. Byrd High 122.7 Caddo Parish Magnet High 177.5 Eden Gardens Fundamental Elementary 155.3 Caddo Parish Middle Magnet 146.5 Fairfield Elementary 121.1 Herndon Magnet 128.6 Judson Fundamental Elementary 124.0 Shreve Island Elementary 123.2 South Highlands Elementary Magnet 155.4 A.C. Steere Elementary 122.7 Calcasieu Alfred M. Barbe High 120.1 T.S. Cooley Elementary Magnet 143.8 Frasch Elementary 124.0 Prien Lake Elementary 122.1 Catahoula Harrisonburg High 130.4 East Baton Rouge Baton Rouge High 172.0 Shenandoah Elementary 121.6 Baton Rouge Visual and Performing Arts 125.2 Lafayette Broadmoor Elementary 127.0 Lafayette High 122.4 Woodvale Elementary 123.7 Livingston Live Oak High 124.3 Morehouse Morehouse Magnet 132.3 Orleans Benjamin Franklin Senior High 201.9 Edna Karr Magnet 125.3 Lusher Alternative Elementary 138.5 Ouachita Claiborne 124.0 Drew Elementary 120.8 Kiroli Elementary 126.5 Pinecrest Elementary 121.9 George Welch Elementary 129.5 Rapides Phoenix Magnet Elementary 138.8 St. Landry Glendale Elementary 130.6 St. Tammany Mandeville Elementary 129.5 Mandeville High 138.0 Northshore High 131.8 Wooklake Elementary 121.0 Pontchartrain Elementary 139.0 Tchefuncte Middle 132.4 Fontainebleau High 121.7 Magnolia Trace Elementary 129.4 Lake Harbor Middle 123.9 Tangipahoa Southeastern LA University Lab 128.3 Terrebonne Mulberry Elementary 126.4 Vernon Anacoco High 125.7 Anacoco Elementary 124.8 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 23 Appendix B. Schools Receiving Awards in 2001, 2003 and 2004 District Name SPS 2001 SPS 2004

1 Acadia Parish 1 Branch Elementary School 96.1 103.7 Acadia Parish 2 Crowley Kindergarten School 64.9 89.5 Acadia Parish 3 North Crowley Elementary School 64.9 89.5 Acadia Parish 4 Mire Elementary School 90.3 102.9

2 Allen Parish 5 Kinder Elementary School 90.9 100.2 Allen Parish 6 Oakdale Elementary School 76.7 99.9 Allen Parish 7 Oberlin High School 76.8 91.3

3 Ascension Parish 8 Oak Grove Primary 106.7 125.2

4 Assumption Parish 9 Napoleonville Primary School 83.0 95.0

5 Bossier Parish 10 Benton Elementary School 87.7 100.3

6 Caddo Parish 11 Fairfield Elementary School 55.7 121.1 Caddo Parish 12 Herndon Magnet School 116.8 128.6 Caddo Parish 13 Oil City Elementary/Middle School 65.7 89.0 Caddo Parish 14 Vivian Elementary/Middle School 67.6 82.7

7 Calcasieu Parish 15 T. S. Cooley Elementary Magnet School 134.5 143.8 Calcasieu Parish 16 Vinton Middle School 79.4 91.2

8 Catahoula Parish 17 Central High School 89.8 114.0

9 Claiborne Parish 18 Summerfield High School 73.7 98.7

10 Concordia Parish 19 Monterey High School 90.8 102.6 Concordia Parish 20 Vidalia Upper Elementary School 88.5 96.2

11 DeSoto Parish 21 North DeSoto Middle School 82.6 95.9 DeSoto Parish 22 Logansport Elementary School 83.7 92.2

12 East Baton Rouge 23 Westdale Middle School 83.7 98.9

13 East Feliciana Parish 24 Slaughter Elementary School 74.5 92.5

14 Grant Parish 25 Pollock Elementary School 84.3 97.4

15 Iberia Parish 26 Canal Street Elementary School 72.4 90.8 Iberia Parish 27 St. Charles Street Elementary School 72.4 90.8

16 Jackson Parish 28 Weston High School 97.4 108.3

17 Jefferson Parish 29 Grand Isle High School 72.9 88.1 Jefferson Parish 30 Harahan Elementary School 97.5 113.6

18 Lafayette Parish 31 Green T. Lindon Elementary School 90.5 109.0

24 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Appendix B. Schools Receiving Awards in 2001, 2003 and 2004 District Name SPS 2001 SPS 2004

20 LaSalle Parish 33 Goodpine Middle School 77.1 94.6

21 Livingston Parish 34 Maurepas School 87.5 99.8 Livingston Parish 35 Seventh Ward Elementary School 97.3 111.6

22 Natchitoches Parish 36 Marthaville Elem./Jr. High School 78.8 93.3

23 Orleans Parish 37 William J. Fischer Elementary School 33.9 71.6 Orleans Parish 38 Edna Karr Magnet School 111.2 125.3 Orleans Parish 39 Lake Forest Montessori Magnet School 82.6 113.6

24 Ouachita Parish 40 Highland Elementary School 101.6 114.1 Ouachita Parish 41 A.L. Smith School 102.9 116.2 Ouachita Parish 42 Sterlington High School 92.0 106.4 Ouachita Parish 43 Woodlawn Elementary School 97.2 108.7

25 Plaquemines Parish 44 Belle Chasse Middle School 91.5 99.4

26 Rapides Parish 45 Plainview High School 79.9 89.6 Rapides Parish 46 Oak Hill Elementary School 99.2 107.2

27 Sabine Parish 47 Converse High School 78.7 93.6 Sabine Parish 48 Ebarb School 77.1 100.6

28 St. James Parish 49 Gramercy Elementary School 72.8 98.9

29 St. John the Baptist 50 John L. Ory Communications Magnet 100.2 119.7

30 St. Landry Parish 51 Eunice Elementary School 78.5 110.6 St. Landry Parish 52 Port Barre High School 81.3 94.8

31 Tangipahoa Parish 53 Chesbrough Elementary School 67.3 93.0

32 Terrebonne Parish 54 Dularge Elementary School 81.4 96.2 Terrebonne Parish 55 Dularge Middle School 89.4 103.0 Terrebonne Parish 56 Oakshire Elementary School 90.4 106.8

33 Union Parish 57 Spearsville High School 72.7 85.3

34 Vermilion Parish 58 Gueydan High School 81.5 89.9

35 Vernon Parish 59 Anacoco Elementary School 98.5 124.8

36 Webster Parish 60 Heflin Elementary School 82.5 101.2

37 Winn Parish 61 Dodson High School 85.8 101.8

38 Monroe City 62 Sallie Humble Elementary School 85.2 103.5

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 25 Number of Schools by School District

26 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 Author

Mark J. Schafer Associate Professor of Sociology and Rural Sociology

Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness 101 Agricultural Administration Building Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Baton Rouge, LA 70803 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 1-225-578-5373 Fax: 1-225-578-2716

School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887 27 Visit our Web site: www.lsuagcenter.com

Louisiana State University Agricultural Center William B. Richardson, Chancellor Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station David J. Boethal, Vice Chancellor and Director Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service Paul D. Coreil, Vice Chancellor and Director

Bulletin #887 (500) 8/2007

The LSU AgCenter provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.

28 School Accountability in Louisiana - LSU AgCenter Research Bulletin #887