Schools want better test results

Published 12:00 am Saturday, August 19, 2006

VIDALIA &8212; The Louisiana Department of Education has posted some school-by-school test results on its Web site, but the numbers aren&8217;t enough to draw major conclusions yet, Superintendent Kerry Laster said.

The school district has had these numbers for several months, but state rankings like School Performance Scores won&8217;t come until October or November.

The only scores available are the results from the fourth- and eighth-grade LEAP and the 10th- and 11th-grade GEE. Results from the new iLEAP taken by third-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and ninth-graders aren&8217;t complete yet and probably won&8217;t be until early September, Laster said.

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Scores from retests in summer school aren&8217;t available yet either.

When the final scores do come, Laster said she expects them to be lower than last year&8217;s. Interruptions and lost instructional time due to Hurricane Katrina had an effect on test preparation and learning, she said.

The state will prepare an SPS for each school that includes hurricane evacuees and one that does not. The district will be able to choose the higher set of numbers. But the Concordia Parish School Board voted months ago to maintain their local accountability standards for students, despite the hurricane. Fourth- and eighth-graders who failed the test will have to face a district committee before they can be promoted. The committee will make a case-by-case decision.

The results, currently available on the Web site, show five achievement levels &8212; unsatisfactory, approaching basic, basic, mastery or advanced.

Fourth- and eighth-graders must score at least basic in one of two subjects &8212; English or math &8212; and at least approaching basic in the third subject to pass.

High school students must score approaching basic or above in English and math and either science or social studies on the GEE to be eligible for graduation.

Based on the posted scores, Laster said the district must improve the number of students scoring advanced, mastery and basic.

&8220;(The scores) are probably a lot like they&8217;ve been in the past, but that&8217;s not the way it should be,&8221; she said. &8220;When they score advanced and mastery it&8217;s weighted heavier. We need more kids scoring basic, mastery and advanced.&8221;

The local and state scores are available at www.louisianaschools.net.