Bills aim to lower LEAP requirements

Several bills before the Legislature that would, if passed, lower LEAP requirements are being met with reservations by the Louisiana State Department of Education and local educators.

The bills are designed to give students the option for a career diploma and reduce the dropout rate across the state.

State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek has said while he supports and recognizes the effort as an attempt to reduce the dropout rate, he is concerned the lower standards will actually increase the dropout rate.

St. Tammany School Superintendent Gayle Sloan also has concerns. She said, “These bills are intended to help keep students in school by providing a diploma path that is geared to those who go directly into the work place. Care should be taken that we not give students false hope by lowering the 8th grade LEAP requirements before entering high school because these same students will have to pass the GEE before they can get a high school diploma. It will be critical to provide strong remediation in the courses in which students are weak before they try to tackle high school entry level courses in the subject.”

She added, “I’m pleased that high school education is receiving more attention and discussion so that we can all contribute toward deciding what will work for each student. A ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t work.”

Pastorek said that between 2001 and 2007 the dropout rate actually decreased from 25.5 percent to 19 percent in Louisiana.

In comparison, the dropout rate in St. Tammany Parish is 3.1 percent for grades nine through twelve.

Pastorek also said that if promoted with an Unsatisfactory on either English or math, a student will have to receive “intense and effective remediation from certified and highly qualified instructors who are skilled at delivering instruction to struggling students.”

In St. Tammany, 63 students, or 2.5 percent of eighth-graders scored Unsatisfactory in English and 498 or 19.7 percent scored Approaching Basic compared to a state average of 6.7 percent Unsatisfactory and 28.2 percent Approaching Basic.

In math, St. Tammany students scoring Unsatisfactory numbered 178 or 7 percent with 480 or 19 percent scoring Approaching Basic compared to the state’s 15.6 percent Unsatisfactory and 22.4 percent Approaching Basic.

By standards proposed, 1,400 eighth-graders statewide would have earned promotion to the ninth grade. Pastorek said, “A comparison of grade-level dropouts based on the percentage of students who are dropping out and when suggest we should be raising, not dropping standards.”

Ninth grade is a crucial year in dropout numbers with more students dropping out in ninth grade than any other year. Pastorek said, “We believe that too many of our high school students are starting ninth grade unprepared and that this is one of the biggest factors contributing to our dropout problem and high retention rates. The data provides us with clear evidence for concern and indicates that ultimately this proposed legislation would hurt students, although not deliberately.”

Currently, students must score Basic on either the English or math portions of the test, with Approaching Basic on the other portion. The change would allow students 15 years old, or those turning 15 during the upcoming school year, promotion to the ninth grade by scoring Approaching Basic or higher on either English or math portions of the LEAP test.

What type of information is needed to score well enough to progress to ninth grade?

According to the Department of Education, to score Approaching Basic in math, a student must score 29.5 out of 76 points, or 39 percent. They must solve one-step problems involving basic computation using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division; recognize basic geometric figures, or recognize simple, obvious patterns.

In English, to score Approaching Basic, a student must score 27.5 out of 69 points or 40 percent. They must demonstrate the ability to understand what they have read or locate information in commonly used sources such as a table of contents or news article. In writing, they must show proper usage of spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation.