Accountability

Louisiana’s Accountability Program

The Louisiana school and school system accountability system was developed to:

• inform and focus educators through clear expectations for student outcomes; and
• provide objective information about school quality to parents and other community stakeholders.

Annually, public schools in Louisiana receive a School Performance Score (SPS) and corresponding letter grade that measures how well they are preparing all of their students for the next grade-level or post-secondary education.

Director of Testing and Accountability

Cassie Owens

318-325-0601, x3010

WHAT SUCCESS HAS THE LOUISIANA K-12 ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM HAD IN LOUISIANA & NATIONALLY?

In its plan to implement the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act, Louisiana has set expectations for all students that are as ambitious as expectations in any state in the country. The state’s system for measuring and reporting student and school success is seen as a national model.

In the News

• ESSA Brings User Friendly Makeover of State Report Cards (Education Week)
• Louisiana Releases New Tool to Help Parents Find Good Early-Learning Options (Education Week)
• A School Finder to Empower: Case Study of Louisiana’s New School Report Card (CCSSO)
• States Leading for Equity: Promising Practices Advancing the Equity Commitments (CCSSO)
• ESSA seeks a well-rounded education. Louisiana seeks partners to explore new measures. (The
Thomas B. Fordham Institute)
• Louisiana education plan provides more—and better—information to families, educators (Daily
Advertiser)

To get further information about School Performance Scores, please visit the Louisiana Believes K-12 Accountability System website, where most of this information was collected.

Latest 4-Year Cohort Graduation Rate

Family Tips for Test Taking

Reassure your child that he or she does not have to answer all the questions correctly to pass. It is not expected that students answer every question correctly.
Tell your child to attempt to answer all of the questions and not to leave any blanks. There is no penalty for guessing, and students can get partial credit on the open-ended items.
Remind your child that the test is important.
Explain to your child the importance of using time wisely. If your child gets stuck on a question, encourage him or her to make the best guess or place a mark in the test booklet by that item and go back to it after finishing that section of the test.
Make certain your child gets a good night's sleep and a good breakfast before taking the test.
Try to make the morning of the test a pleasant one. Do not add to your child's stress.
Get your child to school on time the day of the test.
Remind your child to listen carefully to the instructions from the teacher and to read the directions and each question carefully.
Encourage your child to stay focused on the test, even if other students finish early.
Remind your child that it is okay to mark in the test booklet as a help in taking the test - i.e., underlining important words - but to mark all answers on the answer sheet.