Eunice students outperform parish test results

Eunice third- through eighth-grade students generally outperformed the St. Landry Parish district scores in the recently released Common Core tests, but fell short of the state composite scores.
About 36 percent of Eunice Junior High School eighth-graders achieved Mastery level or Advanced in English Language compared to 35 percent in the parish.
In Mathematics, slightly more than 28 percent of the Eunice eighth-graders scored Mastery or Advanced compared to the parish’s 23 percent.
In Science, slightly more than 12 percent of the Eunice eighth-graders achieved Mastery or Advanced level. In the parish, slightly more than 9 percent of eighth-graders reached the Mastery or Advanced level.
In Social Studies, about 8 percent of Eunice eighth-graders attained Mastery or Advanced, which equal to the parish’s 8 percent.
Overall, St. Landry Parish third through eighth grade students fell below the percentage of students in the Common Core testing done in Spring 2015.
Test results were separated into five categories: Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic and Unsatisfactory.
Under the state’s plan, mastery, not “basic,” will be the average score for an A-rated school in 2025.
St. Landry Parish School Superintendent Edward Brown stated in an email, “As we continue our data analysis of this spring’s English Language Arts and mathematics PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment results, we are working to identify those specific skills/areas of concern in both content areas so that our teachers will be able to employ specific instructional strategies to increase student achievement.”
Brown added, “School and grade level specific action plans are being developed and implemented by the district’s ELA and mathematics content personnel to assist schools in addressing deficiencies.
“As you examine the data, you will note that our students are performing at levels very similar to those of students across the state in both ELA and mathematics. We were able to see that our approach to teaching ELA is working as our students at grade eight exceeded the state’s average. The PARCC assessment was a new assessment for our students, teachers, and the district as a whole at grades 3 – 8. This assessment, designed to measure our students’ understanding of the new Common Core expectations for English and math, focused more than LEAP and iLEAP on critical thinking, problem solving, and reasoning skills.”
St. Landry Parish eighth-grade students scored below the overall state scores in every test area of the Common Core test given in Spring 2015.
State, district and individual school scores for third- through eighth-grade test results were released Oct. 22 by the Louisiana Department of Education.
About 320,000 students in grades three through eight took the tests in March and May.
Parish and state results show low percentages of students achieving Mastery or Advance in Science and Social Studies.
Brown stated, “As more and more emphasis has been placed on English Language Arts and Mathematics and more resources provided for these two content areas, there has been a decline in student performance in science and social studies statewide. However, in St. Landry Parish, students at grades 3, 6 and 7 in Spring 2015 were able to see an increase in performance as compared to Spring 2014.”
Eunice schools’ Advanced and Mastery scores are:
Seventh grade, Eunice Junior High School — 35 percent, English Language Arts (34 percent state/25 percent parish); 25 percent, Mathematics (22 percent state/13 percent parish); 20 percent, Science (27 percent state/12 percent); and 18 percent, Social Studies (25 percent/11 percent).
Sixth grade, Central Middle School — 24 percent, English Language Arts (38 percent state/31 percent parish); 13 percent, Mathematics (26 percent state/13 percent parish); 11 percent, Science (22 percent state/9 percent parish); and 12 percent, Social Studies, (24 percent state/10 percent parish).
Fifth grade, Central Middle School — 29 percent, English Language Arts, (32 percent state/24 percent parish); 20 percent, Mathematics, (28 percent state/15 percent); 17 percent, Science, (18 percent state/9 percent parish); and 7 percent, Social Studies, (18 percent state/7 percent parish).
Fourth grade, East Elementary — 41 percent, English Language Arts, (40 percent state/33 percent parish); 27 percent, Mathematics, (33 percent state/21 percent parish); 26 percent, Science, (20 percent state/13 percent parish); and 31 percent, Social Studies, (16 percent state/10 percent parish).
Fourth grade, Eunice Elementary — 52 percent, English Language Arts, (40 percent state/33 percent parish); 41 percent, Mathematics, (33 percent state/21 percent parish); 11 percent Science (20 percent state/13 percent parish); and 7 percent, Social Studies, (16 percent state/10 percent parish).
Fourth grade, Glendale Elementary, 44 percent, English Language Arts, (40 percent state/33 percent parish); 22 percent, Mathematics, (33 percent state/21 percent parish); 26 percent, Science, (20 percent state/13 percent parish); and 22 percent, Social Studies, (16 percent state/10 percent parish).
Fourth grade, Highland Elementary —19 percent, English Language Arts, (40 percent state/33 percent parish); 9 percent, Mathematics, (33 percent state); 5 percent, Science, (20 percent state/13 percent parish); 5 percent, Social Studies, (16 percent state/10 percent parish).
Third grade, East Elementary — 35 percent, English Language Arts, (37 percent state/29 percent parish); 41 percent, Mathematics, (37 percent state/24 percent parish); 48 percent, Science, (24 percent state/17 percent parish); and 43 percent, Social Studies, (19 percent state/13 percent parish).
Third grade, Eunice Elementary — 57 percent, English Language Arts, (37 percent state/29 percent parish); 47 percent, Mathematics, (37 percent state/24 percent parish); 25 percent, Science, (24 percent state); and 19 percent, Social Studies, (19 percent state/13 percent parish).
Third grade, Glendale Elementary — 36 percent, English Language Arts, (37 percent state/29 percent parish); 13 percent, Mathematics, (37 percent state/24 percent parish); 38 percent, Science, (24 percent state); and 24 percent, Social Studies, (19 percent state/13 percent parish).
Third grade, Highland Elementary — 24 percent, English Language Arts, (37 percent state/29 percent parish); 17 percent, Mathematics, (37 percent state/24 percent parish); 7 percent, Science, (24 percent state); and 5 percent, Social Studies, (19 percent state/13 percent parish).
High school test results are scheduled to be released today.