SPENO: 2019-2020

How are public schools held accountable?

The word accountability is used frequently when talking about public schools, particularly in recent years. But accountability has a very specific meaning with regard to public education in New Orleans and Louisiana. For public education in the state, accountability means the way that schools are held responsible for a number of student outcomes. On a national and a state level, schools are responsible for making sure that their students achieve a set of predefined standards. Another commonly used phrase when talking about accountability is school performance. Schools are thus held accountable based on their performance

How is school performance in New Orleans measured?

In Louisiana, schools are held accountable through a scoring system known as school performance scores (SPS). A school’s SPS is calculated using a number of factors and the formula varies between elementary, middle, high, and combination schools. All schools are assessed along the lines of academic achievement (how many students achieve a certain score on an end-of-year-standardized test) and academic growth (how many students perform better on an end-of-year standardized test than expected).

Currently, schools are assessed on a 150-point scale and then assigned a letter grade from an A to an F based on their cumulative score. Assessment scores in grades 3-8 (students in grades K-2 are not tested) are based on proficiency levels on standardized tests, of which there are five: Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic, and Unsatisfactory. The state shifted from an expectation of basic to mastery in 2015.

In high school, all public school students take state-level End-of-Course (EOC/LEAP 2025) tests and the ACT. Levels of proficiency are divided among four bands (Excellent, Good, Fair, and Needs Improvement). High school performance scores also take into account student growth (an in-depth analysis of the growth score is provided later in the report) and graduation rates

• Elementary, middle, and high schools across Louisiana are all given a school performance score (SPS) and a representative letter grade based on numerous factors. The measured factors differ by the grades of the school, but all are assessed on student achievement and student growth.
• 2018-2019 is the second year that a growth measure is included in the calculation of SPS and letter grades. The growth score measures not just the absolute performance of a student, but the student’s academic progress. On the whole, it has helped improve many schools’ SPS compared to what they would have been without accounting for growth.
• The vast majority of the New Orleans’ public schools received a C (26) or a D (24) in the 2018-19 school year. Eight schools received an A and 11 earned a B. Twelve schools received an F, four of which closed at the end of the 2018-19 school year.
• A majority, 55%, of NOLA-PS’s public schools received an F on the assessment portion of the school performance, but 75% received an A or B on the growth assessment. This is inline with last year’s performance.
• Overall, NOLA-PS schools received a C letter grade from the LDOE