[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish students make gains in LEAP scores

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish students make gains in LEAP scores

Published: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 3:39 PM     Updated: Tuesday, May 24,
2011, 3:47 PM

 By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 

St. Bernard Parish students continue to perform better than their peers
statewide on accountability tests at the fourth grade, eighth grade and high
school levels, according to springtime testing scores released Tuesday by
the state.

In math, more parish students in fourth, eighth and high school scored at
the advanced or mastery levels than the statewide average, the data shows.
In English, the scores were more of a mixed bag, but showed improvement in
the fourth and eighth grades over last year.

"We're really pleased overall," St. Bernard Parish schools Superintendent
Doris Voitier said.

The district was singled out by the state Department of Education for being
among the top seven districts in Louisiana based on its 3-percent overall
gain in the percentage of students performing at the basic level or above.

Voitier said the district has concentrated its efforts in recent years on
boosting the scores of middle school students and was pleased by their
showing.

Fourth and eighth graders take the LEAP each spring, scoring in one of five
categories: advanced, mastery, basic, approaching basic and unsatisfactory.
Students in those grades must score at least one basic and one approaching
basic on the math and English portions to earn a promotion to the next
grade.

Students in 10th and 11th grades take the Graduate Exit Exam and must score
at the approaching basic level or above in English and math, and in either
science or social studies. Students in third, fifth, seventh and ninth
grades also take springtime standardized tests, but they do not determine if
they move to the next grade.

Among the highlights, 41 percent of the parish's fourth graders scored at
the advanced or mastery level in math. While that dipped from last year, it
still is better than the statewide average of 28 percent, the data shows.
And in high school, 37 percent scored at the advanced or mastery level,
compared with a statewide average of 25 percent.

The Department of Education also singled out the district for being a top
eight school district based on its 17-percent gain in the percentage of
students at grade level or above from 2007 to 2011.

"We are going in the right direction," Voitier said.

.......

Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren at timespicayune.com or 985.898.4832.