By D. Scott Hughes, Executive Director Alliance For Education
The State Department of Education recently released the School Performance Scores (SPS) for every school in the State of Louisiana. Test scores, viewed as a reflection of learning, were up across the board. They were also up in northwest Louisiana.
Here is a recap of how our local districts did with the latest data release:
Bienville 8 of 8 showed growth
3 of 8 achieved target growth
NO schools in AUS status (<60)
2 schools with an SPS of 100+
Bossier 20 of 29 showed growth
10 of 29 achieved target growth
NO schools in AUS status (<60)
13 schools with an SPS of 100+
Caddo 54 of 66 showed growth
20 of 66 achieved target growth
7 schools in AUS status (<60)
16 schools with an SPS of 100+
Claiborne 4 of 7 showed growth
2 of 7 achieved target growth
NO schools in AUS status (<60)
NO schools with an SPS of 100+
DeSoto 4 of 11 showed growth
3 of 11 achieved target growth
NO schools in AUS status (<60)
1 school with an SPS of 100+
Red River 2 of 3 showed growth
1 of 3 achieved target growth
NO schools in AUS status (<60)
NO schools with an SPS of 100+
Webster 9 of 16 showed growth
3 of 16 achieved target growth
NO schools in AUS status (<60)
1 school with an SPS of 100+
All told 101 of the 140 (72%) of reporting school sites saw growth in the 2008/09 school year. Every school is also assigned a projected growth rate based on where they need to be under the No Child Left Behind goals and 42 (30%) of the 140 schools hit those growth targets. And while growth targets can be harder to understand, the goal of the targets is to try and keep the school on target to achieve a 100 SPS score this school year. So schools who were farther away had larger SPS growth targets since so little time remains to hit the target. Either way, to see 101 schools achieve growth is a very positive trend I am glad to see in our local schools.
What does it all mean? In the big picture it means the Accountability Program is working. Schools are performing better due to the hard work of teachers, principals and school staffs. It means more children are learning. It does not mean we are where we need to be, but we are headed in the right direction. | 
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