La. BESE Member James Garvey’s School Grading “Lie”: Read His Full Speech Here
On March 29, 2017, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) held a 6 1/2-hour special meeting on the state plan to be submitted to the US Department of Education in April 2017 in compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Most attendees thought the plan was being rushed without having been properly vetted, including the Louisiana School Boards Association.
One of the components of Louisiana’s ESSA plan is a phasing out what White calls the school performance score “curve” in two years, and a raising of the criteria for school grading year by year until 2025. (In 2015, White called the school grading a “baseline year,” to be raised over ten years. That was when the state still used the term “Common Core” and when students took a “Common Core exam” that was PARCC-like.)
Despite school performance score/ letter grade modifying and phasing, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) unequivocally promotes school letter grades, including the measuring of “improvement,” on its school letter grades page:
SCHOOL LETTER GRADES
Since 1999, the state has issued School Performance Scores for public schools, which are based on student achievement data. To clearly communicate the quality of school performance to families and the public, Louisiana adopted letter grades (A-F). All schools with sufficient data receive school performance scores.
- Elementary schools (K-6):
- 100 percent of the school grade is based on student achievement on annual assessments in English language arts, math, science, and social studies
Schools may also earn points for significant improvement with students who are academically behind.- Middle schools (7-8):
- 95 percent of the school grade is based on student achievement on annual assessments
- Five percent of the school grade is based on credits earned through the end of students’ 9th grade year.
Schools may also earn points for significant improvement with students who are academically behind.- High schools (9-12): Half of the school grade is based on student achievement on state assessments and the other half on graduation performance.
- 25 percent is attributed to student performance on the ACT or WorkKeys
- 25 percent is attributed to student performance on End-of-Course assessments
- 25 percent is attributed to the strength of diploma index, which rewards achievements like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam credit
- 25 percent is attributed to the cohort graduation rate, or the percentage of students who started 9th grade and graduated on-time within four years
Schools may also earn additional points for significant improvement with students who are academically behind.
Note that BESE approves the school performance scoring system and associated school letter grading system.
Note also that bias and inflation in the Louisiana school grading system has beenLa. BESE Member James Garvey’s School Grading “Lie”: Read His Full Speech Here | deutsch29: