Schools find positives in tougher system

Staff Report
St. Mary Parish public school officials pointed to Thursday’s release of 2018 district and school performance scores as “evidence of the devotion seen in our classrooms every day.”
St. Mary’s districtwide performance score was 81.9, which makes it a B district under the Louisiana Department of Education’s accountability system. In 2017, the district score was 99.7.
The difference is what a St. Mary School Board press release called a “move to a significantly more rigorous state accountability formula.”
Under the old formula, St. Mary would have a score of 101, up 1.3 points from last year and good enough for an A grade. Even the score under the new formula continues to outperform the statewide score, which was 76.1 under the new formula and 93 according to the old formula.
There’s also a new component in the scoring system, the district said.
A quarter of the scores for elementary and junior high schools and 12.5 percent of the score for high schools will come from a measure called the Student Progress Index.
“Student progress is a measure used to determine if a student is on track to meet the proficiency level of ‘Mastery’ by 8th grade or by 10th grade assessments of Geometry/English II,” the press release said.
“Therefore, each school and district received an additional letter grade to reflect performance on the new progress measure.”
St. Mary’s Progress Index was 89, one point below an A status under the new system.
Among the positives in the scores cited by the district:
—More than half of St. Mary schools were recognized as Top Gains Honorees, indicating that they got A grades in the Student Progress Index.
The schools are J.S. Aucoin Elementary, Bayou Vista Elementary, Berwick Elementary, Berwick Junior High, Berwick High, Franklin Junior High, LaGrange Elementary, Patterson High, Hattie Watts Elementary, Wyandotte Elementary, M.E. Norman Elementary and B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School.
—Six schools were named Equity Honorees because they outperformed 90 percent of all schools across student groups and received no intervention labels. They are J.S. Aucoin, Berwick High, Patterson High, Wyandotte, M.E. Norman and West St. Mary High.
—Three schools maintained A grades under the new performance standards: Morgan City High, Berwick High and Patterson High.
—Two schools won places on the early childhood education honor roll, which means they received ratings of Excellent. The schools are Julia B. Maitland and M.E. Norman.