Student test scores up in most New Orleans area districts, but still below pre-pandemic levels

Most schools across the New Orleans area showed slight improvements in state test scores this year after they took a nosedive during the pandemic, new LEAP test scores released Wednesday show. But even with the small gains, this year’s scores underscore the long road that school districts from New Orleans to St. Tammany to St. John the Baptist have to make up for pandemic-related learning losses.

Of the state’s 76 public school districts, 80% saw a boost from last year’s scores. Statewide, 31% of students across the board scored at the “mastery” level or higher, slightly more than the 30% of students who met that mark the year before, but still below the 36% who achieved mastery in 2019, the last year of testing before the pandemic disrupted learning. Students who score mastery or above are considered ready for the next grade level.

In the New Orleans metro area, 43% of students in St. Charles Parish were at mastery level, 42% in St. Tammany and Plaquemines parishes, 35% in St. Bernard, 29% in Jefferson Parish, 21% in Orleans and 16% in St. John. Local students were among about 300,000 students in grades 3-8 who took the tests in the spring.

In most parishes those scores showed an improvement from last year, but remained several percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. 

(Story: La. students show partial rebound on LEAP scores.)

New Orleans

In New Orleans, 21% of students scored mastery or higher, up 1 percentage point from 2021 but still below the 25% of students who met that benchmark in 2019. Student performance in English went from 28% mastery in 2021 to 31% mastery in 2022, a slight improvement but still below 33% mastery seen in 2019.

Students had dropped 10 percentage points in math scores from 2019 to 2021 testing, going from 24% mastery to 14% mastery. Scores this year showed a moderate rebound to 18%.

NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Avis Williams said in a statement that the data needs further analysis. "At first glance, we see improvement in many of our schools, but we know we still have a lot of work to get our scholars where they need to be and to ensure we provide a high-quality education based on equity, excellence, and joy,” she said.

St. Tammany

St. Tammany was one of the districts that saw a small drop in overall scores from 2021 to 2022. The percentage of students scoring mastery and above for all grade levels was 42% this year, down 1 percentage point from last year’s score.

The score was well below the 46% in 2019, though it remains among the highest in the state.

Still, the district saw gains in English and math scores. For English, student scores increased by 3 points to 55% compared to 52% in 2021. Math scores went from 58% in 2021 to 61% in 2022.

“We are very proud of the work and effort that went into recovering lost learning and growing student progress,” St. Tammany schools Superintendent Frank Jabbia said in a statement. “As a large school district with more than 37,000 students, to be 6th in the state with 42% of our students scoring Mastery and above on the LEAP is a testament to the hard work put in by teachers and students.”

Jefferson Parish 

The percentage of students in Jefferson Parish public schools who achieved “mastery” level or above rose by 3 percentage points, to 29%, from 26% in 2021. Still, that’s 2 points below the 31% mastery or better level from 2019.

Jefferson Parish schools Superintendent James Gray said in an interview that the latest scores validate “the hard work that we put in over the past year.”

Gray noted that the district, Louisiana’s largest with more than 47,000 students, not only had to contend with the coronavirus pandemic, but also Hurricane Ida, which caused significant damage to scores of schools and destroyed three of them.

“It’s going to take time back to pre-pandemic number,” Gray said, but added the processes are in place to achieve that goal.

Other local districts

Among the smaller public school districts in the New Orleans area, St. Charles Parish led the way with 43% of students testing at the mastery level or above. That was up from the 42% last year, but still below 46% in 2019.

In Plaquemines Parish, 42% of students tested at mastery, up from 39% last year but below the 47% of 2019. In St. Bernard, 35% of students met the mastery benchmark, up from 34% in 2021 but below 36% in 2019.

And in St. John the Baptist Parish, 16% of students reached mastery level in 2022. That was up 1 percentage point from 15% in 2021, but down from 22% in 2019.

High school seniors must pass LEAP exams in core subject areas to qualify for graduation: English I or English II, biology or U.S. History and geometry or algebra I. For the class of 2020 and 2021, the state waived this requirement for graduation, but it was reinstated last year. It has not counted toward school accountability since the beginning of the pandemic.

Overall, state Superintendent Cade Brumley credited the gains seen across the state to in-person learning and "strategically allocated resources and developed innovative solutions to recover and accelerate student learning."

“This progress is a true testament to the dedication of our educators to maintain high standards for students no matter the circumstance,” Brumley said in a statement. “We still have work to do before we’ve fully recovered from the impact of the last two years, but there’s excitement among our teachers and leaders to close that gap and continue moving our students forward.”

Staff writers Blake Paterson and Joni Hess contributed reporting for this story.

Editor’s Note: This story incorrectly reported that 32% of Jefferson Parish public school students scored at the mastery or above level on LEAP tests in 2019. The correct figure is 31%.