School district earns ‘B’ from state

By 
Sheila Smith
Sunday, November 11, 2018

Despite the state utilizing tougher standards in evaluating schools and districts, Jeff Davis Parish (JDP) saw overall improvement and earned a “B” for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Jeff Davis’ overall letter grade for the 2016-2017 school year was an “A,” and it was ranked as the 15th best district in the state with a score of 100.6. The district anticipated an automatic drop in its letter grade because of the Louisiana Department of Education’s (LDE) new formula in how school and district performance scores are determined.

LDE annually uses standardized tests, graduation rates and academic growth to determine performance scores (SPS) and schools’ and districts’ letter grades. Scores are broken into categories including advanced, mastery, basic, approaching basic and unsatisfactory. LDE aims for schools to average mastery by 2025. Schools were previously tasked with averaging basic. Prior to the last school year, students could see up to 150 points for scoring mastery and 100 points for scoring basic. Now, only 100 points are given for mastery and 80 for basic.

“Although overall student performance for 2017-2018 is better than when the district earned a grade score of an ‘A’ for the 2016-2017 year, the new grade system standards currently provide us with a district grade score of 83 which is a ‘B,’” he said. “Last year approximately 15 school districts across the state earned a district grade designation of ‘A’ but this year only four districts out of the 75 reported will score well enough to earn an ‘A.’”

Even with tougher state requirements, Credeur said, nine of JDP’s 13 schools improved their achievements compared to the 2016-2017 academic year. He described Jennings and Lake Arthur’s elementary schools as displaying “phenomenal growth,” while Lacassine and Lake Arthur high schools earned Top Gains School designations for improvement the percentage of students who achieved beyond projections.

“This means that these schools out-performed 90 percent of all schools across the state in all subgroup areas, with no subgroups in need of Urgent Intervention,” Credeur said. “Lake Arthur Elementary also was the only school to improve its grade designation in the tougher environment, going from a ‘C’ to a ‘B.’”

He also said Early Childhood Community Network scores continue to indicate that JDP has one of the top pre-K network programs in Louisiana, ranking second overall. Elton Elementary boasts one of the highest pre-K performances in the state, coming in at fourth best.

JDP schools’ 2017-2018 scores, as well as their scores from the former grading system in 2016-2017, are as follows:

• Elton High - 88.8 B. For 16-17, its score was 98 B.

• Elton Elementary - 76.9 B. For 16-17, its score was 88.2 B.

• Fenton Elementary - 70.3 C. For 16-17, its score was 80 C.

• Hathaway High - 87.5 B. For 16-17, its score was 97.7 B.

• Jennings High - 87.6 B. For 16-17, its score was 99 B.

• James Ward Elementary - 65.4 C. For 16-17, its score was 80.9 C.

• Jennings Elementary - 65.4 C. For 16-17, its score was 80.9 C.

• Lacassine High - 86.1 B. For 16-17, its score was 106.9 A.

• Lake Arthur Elementary - 77.9 B. For 16-17, its score was 97.6 B.

• Lake Arthur High - 90.5 A. For 16-17, its score was 110.5 A.

• Welsh Elementary - 76.9 B. For 16-17, its score was 91.1 B.

• Welsh High - 84.5 B For 16-17, its score was 102.5 A.

• Welsh-Roanoke Junior High - 75.1 B. For 16-17, its score was 85.4 B.