School district score down

Submitted by admin on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 17:11

Henri C. Bienvenu

St. Martin Parish’s school District Performance Score for the 2006-07 school year dropped two points from the previous year, according to data provided last week by the Louisiana Department of Education.

The state released the DPS figures for 61 of Louisiana’s 69 school districts. Eight districts which were severely affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita received a two-year waiver from district accountability.

St. Martin Parish’s DPS slipped from 82.4 for 2006-07 to 80.4 last year, a drop of two points. The parish ranked 38th among the 61 districts and was second lowest among the eight Acadiana parishes (see accompanying chart). The two-point drop was the biggest loss in the area while St. Landry, Iberia, St. Mary and Evangeline all recorded slight gains.

The state goal is 120 by 2014. The Zachary School District led the state with a score of 110.1.

State officials describe the DPS as “essentially a ‘roll up’ of individual students scores on state examinations,” including results from the LEAP, iLEAP and Graduation Exit Exams (GEE) along with student attendance and dropout rates.

Vermilion Parish led the Acadiana area with a score of 94.8, ranking it 12th in the state. Evangeline showed the biggest gain, with its score of 85.3 being 1.2 points better than 2005-06.

Lavergne Comments

In a statement released to the Teche News, Supt. Richard Lavergne pointed out that the parish managed to maintain a two-star (out of a possible five) DPS label for scoring in the 80 to 99.9 range.

“Also,” he added, “St. Martin Parish ranks 4th in the 8th grade Persistence Indicator, which earns us an ‘exceptional’ Persistence label.”

The 8th grade Persistence Indicator reflects a district’s ability to keep 8th grade students enrolled in school.

“Upon arriving as the new superintendent on April 1, 2007,” Lavergne added, “we reviewed the test scores from March 2007. At that time, we developed goals and objectives to improve teaching and learning. In addition, each school developed an academic plan to improve student achievement. Through effective monitoring, implementation of professional development activities, and committed employees, these changes and activities should result in school and district improvement. All employees are committed to improving the quality of education in St. Martin Parish.”