Louisiana's Accountability System

Louisiana's Accountability System calls for continuous improvement in student achievement, attendance, and dropout rates. This system is based on two principles: 1) recognizing schools that show academic growth; and 2) providing additional support and resources to schools, students and educators who need help.

The legislation authorizing the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to establish Louisiana's nationally recognized accountability system was passed and signed into law in 1997. Based on this law, students are tested annually on the iLEAP, LEAP, GEE and End-of-Course tests.  And schools, districts and the state earn a performance score each year.

Testing

Each year, students in grades 3-11 participate in state assessments.  Each of the state assessments is based on Grade-Level Expectations, which reflect the knowledge and skills students should have acquired at the time of testing. Students do not receive a pass or fail grade, but receive an achievement level score.

Students in 4th and 8th grade participate in the high stakes Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) test, which measures their knowledge and skills in English Language Arts (ELA), math, science, and social students and determines whether they will be required to attend summer school or be retained.

Students in 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th grades take the state's Integrated Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (iLEAP) test, which is based on Grade-Level Expectations, but does not determine whether students are retained or advance to the next grade level.

The five achievement levels a student can earn on the iLEAP and LEAP are: Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic, and Unsatisfactory.

To earn a standard high school diploma, high school students must pass Louisiana's Graduation Exit Examination (GEE) or End-of-Course (EOC) exams, depending on when they entered high school. Students who entered high school prior to 2010-2011 take the GEE in 10th and 11th grade.

The five achievement levels a student can earn on the GEE are: Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic, and Unsatisfactory.  Students must score Approaching Basic or above on the English and math portions of the exam, and Approaching Basic or above on either the Science or the Social Studies components of the test in order to graduate.

Beginning with the freshmen class of 2010−2011, EOC tests have replaced the Graduation Exit Examination (GEE) for graduation purposes. All incoming freshmen must pass three EOC tests in the following categories: English II or English III, Algebra I or Geometry, and Biology or American History.

There are four achievement levels students can score on the End-of-Course exams: Excellent, Good, Fair and Needs Improvement.

School, District, and State Performance Scores

Student scores on standardized assessments are combined with other factors, such as dropout and attendance rates, to calculate School Performance Scores (SPS), District Performance Scores (DPS), and a State Performance Score.

School Performance Scores are calculated for K-6th grade schools using student test scores (90%) and attendance (10%). Schools with a 7th and 8th grade configuration receive an SPS based on attendance (5%), dropouts (5%) and student test scores (90%).  High schools (grades 9-12) receive an SPS based on test scores (70%) and their graduation index (30%).

Based on their most recent SPS, a Growth Target is set for each school.  Growth Targets represents the amount of progress each school must make every year to reach the state's SPS goal of 120 by the year 2014. As required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), schools must also show improvement or Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in up to nine student subgroups in ELA and math.

District Performance Scores and the State's Performance Score are a roll up of individual student scores on LEAP, iLEAP and GEE, as well as attendance, dropout and graduation outcomes – calculated using the same formula as School Performance Scores – but using only one year of data.  Schools, districts and the state also receive Letter Grades, ranging from A to F.  Letter grades based on performance scores.

Also, for schools, letter grades may be followed by a plus sign (+), which signifies a school has improved enough to meet its assigned Growth Target. A minus sign (-) indicates a school’s Growth Performance Score has declined by at least one-tenth of a point from its Baseline Performance Score the previous year. If a school does not receive a plus (+) or minus (-) sign, it signifies the school has either shown no growth or in some cases, improved its Baseline Score, but not enough to meet its Growth Performance Goal.

Since Louisiana's accountability system calls for the state to provide resources and interventions to schools that need additional assistance, Louisiana has put various measures in place, such as after-school tutoring programs and the Recovery School District, which is tasked with transforming the state’s lowest performing schools.