In response to the Louisiana Department of Education announcing 2017-2018 school performance scores, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber today released its analysis on the performance of the 13 school districts within the nine-parish Capital Region.
The statewide annual ratings, based on a variety of student achievement metrics, provide parents and community members with insight on the performance of each school and district om the state. BRAC’s findings are as follows:
- Changes in the accountability formula resulted in a decline in performance scores across the board, creating a new benchmark for future analysis.
- Zachary School District remains the top performing school district in the state, receiving a 93.6 (A), followed by Ascension Parish scoring a 91.2 (A).
- Four Capital Region districts ranked in the top 10 statewide, with three districts landing in the top five.
- The BRAC-calculated “Regional Score” dropped from 87.4 (B) to 73.1 (C) in 2018, falling behind the state average of 76.1 (B).
- East Baton Rouge, the largest district in the region, received a score of 65.4 (C), maintaining its letter grade from 2017.
- District grade distribution in the Capital Area are: two “A” ratings; three “B” ratings; five “C” ratings; two “D” ratings; and, one “F.”
The release of this year’s scores marks the implementation of the state’s updated school accountability policies. In 2014, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to raise the bar for school systems regarding student achievement over the course of several years. Read BRAC’s full analysis here and the full schools report here.
