Recently the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) released its assessment of school performance in the 50 states. This is calculated every other year to objectively assess reading and math progress in 4th and 8th grade students.
The NAEP test is acknowledged as the most accurate national comparison of school progress at the individual district and state level. It is referred to as the Nation’s Report Card.
This assessment is different than a vast majority of rankings that often focus on multiple subjective assessments. In the NAEP evaluation, all students take the same test with consistent grading. The same criteria is used to measure and grade each child’s progress.
It is safe to say that examining the ranking of Louisiana against others sometimes is more depressing than exhilarating. We often don’t have reason to celebrate state rankings in education. This year is different.
Because of Louisiana’s previous performance in NAEP testing, I started looking for Louisiana in NAEP rankings for 4th grade reading by looking at the last ten states. After all, we were 50th just four years ago. As I scanned the page, I was surprised to keep moving up until I found Louisiana at number 16 among all states. In elementary reading, our children’s scores exceeded 34 other states.
When I looked at the 8th grade reading scores, we had moved from 45th four years ago to 29th this year. Louisiana lead the nation in reading growth over both the 2019-2022 and 2022-2024 cycles.
Over the same period, Louisiana 4th grade students improved from 50th to 38th in 4th grade math ranking. This put us in the top 5 states nationally in growth in math.
This was not grading on the curve. There were no adjustments made by demographics. The same criteria we use for each state actually means that Louisiana overcame its high poverty rate and ranked higher than many states with a much higher average family income.
These outcomes didn’t happen by chance. It is the result of change and investment in K-12 education. It is because our school systems have been dedicated to a back to basics approach and a concentration on phonics. It is because Louisiana has made significant investment in early childhood education. It is because Louisiana has been dedicated as a state to school choice for families.
Louisiana schools are bringing accountability to the individual level and using the results of student tests to guide student instruction. We continue to improve accountability in Louisiana with modifications that reward both student performance and student academic growth.
Improvement in our schools is not an overnight occurrence. It didn’t just happen as the result of work over the past couple of years. These outcomes are the result of the work of Governor Mike Foster and State School Superintendent Cecile Picard nearly thirty years ago and school reform has been maintained by state leaders through the years to our current Governor Jeff Landry and State School Superintendent Cade Brumley.
Today’s outcomes are the result of tremendous efforts by Louisiana’s school teachers and administrators, as well as district school boards and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). We owe these school leaders our sincere gratitude and individual thanks. We know continued improvement will require continued hard work – but it is so worth it to see our children have greater opportunity because we provide them a better education.
In the meantime, we should all express our thanks to those teachers and school leaders who work so hard to help our children reach their potential.
Dr. Phillip Rozeman is a practicing cardiologist and co-chair of Leaders for a Better Louisiana – a new nonprofit resulting from the merger of the Louisiana Committee of 100 and Council for A Better Louisiana (CABL).