Tri-parish scores show mixed results

Terrebonne Parish public schools met the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress School Performance Score requirements.

However, the data released Friday also showed five schools failed to meet at least one of the AYP subgroup components – Ellender Memorial, South Terrebonne and Terrebonne high schools, Caldwell Middle School and Oaklawn Junior High School.

Despite raising its overall SPS from 67.2 to 70.1 over the past year, this was the second straight year Oaklawn’s African-American students did not reach the state’s requirements on the English/ language arts section of the Louisiana Education Assessment Program test.

The school had to offer its students “school choice” to transfer in August. Principal Demetria Maryland and her staff had to rewrite the school improvement plan to increase academic rigor in the curriculum.

Attempts to reach Carol Davis, the school system’s supervisor of federal programs, were unsuccessful as of press time.

The school system’s supervisor of assessment and staff development, Kathy Tamplain, took a wider view of the state’s accountability results.

“We know we have some schools we need to work with, but there are a lot of schools that have shown significant growth,” she said. “We had 20 schools that grew in performance, and the object is to grow until they reach the 2014 level that the state is asking for.”

By 2014, the state demands all schools reach 120 on the SPS. The 2008 baseline SPS is 86.3.

The accountability evaluation is measured based on i-LEAP, LEAP and GEE standardized tests along with attendance and dropout data. The highest possible score is 200.

Overall, Terrebonne Parish public schools performed slightly better this year, but its ranking dropped among all state school districts.

The school system earned an 84.4 score, up from 82.9 a year ago. However, it fell from 31st among school districts to 38th this year.

No Terrebonne Parish school posted a score of 60 or lower, which would have labeled it “unacceptable” and forced the school to face state sanctions.

Of the 31 schools examined, seven received a three-star label (SPS between 100 and 119.9), 14 got a two-star label (between 80 and 99.9) and 10 received a one-star label (between 60 and 79.9).

The schools that saw the biggest gains in SPS score were Southdown (11.7), Montegut (10.9) and Bayou Black (9.4) elementary schools.

“Southdown Elementary School showed exemplary academic growth even though they are not at the academic baseline they need to be at,” Tamplain said. “So they still have a ways to grow, but they are coming from further behind.”

The sharpest decline were at Boudreaux Canal (8.2) and Schriever (6.1) elementary and H.L. Bourgeois High schools (5.5).