The Louisiana Department of Education released school and district letter grades Monday afternoon. Nearly 37% of Louisiana's public schools earned grades of A or B in the state's performance ranking system. 36% scored at the D or F mark.
Bossier Parish schools improved to get a "B" score this year. Superintendent D.C. Machen says 9 schools in Bossier City improved by at least 1 letter grade, and they had no failing schools.
"Implementing the best teaching practices in the classroom. That we are providing every student the opportunity to have an enhanced, challenging educational opportunity there in the classroom. Caddo parish schools also announced improved test scores," Machen said when asked how the district improved.
Caddo Parish also saw improvement. The district went up from a "D" last year to a "C" this year.
"While we are pleased with this growth, we also are well aware that we must continue to stay focused on our improvements. We must refocus our efforts on all schools as we continue to meet as you all know the states changing new standards. We feel we are up to the task," said Caddo Parish School Board Superintendent, Dr. Gerald Dawkins.
47 out of 60 Caddo schools saw improvement from last year.
Despite the district improvement, Caddo actually had more schools considered academically unacceptable by the state. The Department of Education named 21 as AUS status (not including alternative schools).
CPSB says the increase is partly because the state standards have gone up. In 2011 a school had to score below 65 to get an "F". This year, that was raised to a 75, and 13 of those 21 AUS schools would not have failed with last years standards. Several missed the bar by just a few tenths of a point.
DeSoto Parish also improved with a "B" grade. Webster and Natchitoches Parishes schools improved to a "C".
Other districts in Northwest Louisiana stayed the same. Bienville, Red river, and Sabine Parishes got a "C" grade again. Claiborne Parish got the lowest grade in Northwest Louisiana with a "D".
To see state reports by school or district, click here.
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