Louisiana education makes top of national list

Louisiana’s progress in linking high school standards, resources and practices to the expectations of colleges and employers is recognized in a newly released national report. In the annual “Closing the Expectations Gap” report, published by the non-profit education organization Achieve, Louisiana meets three of the five critical college and career ready benchmarks. That puts Louisiana among only eleven states that meet three or more of the measured criteria. This is the fifth year Achieve has issued the report, which is published in conjunction with the organization’s American Diploma Project (ADP) Network. Louisiana is among 31 states that have developed and adopted high school academic content standards for English and mathematics that are aligned to college and career-ready expectations. Furthermore, Louisiana is one of only four states highlighted in the report for its Emerging Best Practices in Accountability. The report points to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s adoption of statewide goals to measure and provide incentives for college and career readiness. “The value of high school for our students is directly related to how well their experience prepares them for success in their future academic and career pursuits,” State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek says. “It is not enough for our students to graduate from high school. They need to graduate equipped with the knowledge and skills it takes to succeed in the global economy, and this report reaffirms Louisiana’s continued commitment to college- and career-ready standards. It also serves as a guide by which we can gauge our progress in meeting the benchmarks that are so essential to our students’ success after high-school.”