St. Charles Parish Public Schools ranked in the top 10 districts in the state on the Louisiana Education Assessment Program, which measures proficiency in English Language Arts, math, science and social studies for grades 3-12.
With 44 percent of test takers achieving mastery and above, the district scored nine percent above the state average, according to Angelle Babin, the assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment for St. Charles Parish Public Schools.
The district, however, saw a slight decline in scores from last year, when 45 percent of students in grades 3-8 achieved mastery and above.
Babin said that a decrease in science scores led to the one percent decline this year, but there was overall growth in English Language Arts and math scores.
“ELA trend data grew in all elementary grades and in most middle schools,” Babin said. “The majority of LEAP-tested grades showed cohort growth in ELA.”
On the LEAP exam, student scores are reported on five levels: unsatisfactory, approaching basic, basic, mastery or advanced. Students scoring mastery and advanced are considered proficient, or ready for the next grade level without the need for remediation or additional support.
Ascension Parish scored the highest in the state with 53 percent of test takers achieving mastery and above.
Most elementary schools in St. Charles Parish saw slight declines in overall scores, which combine ELA, math and science results.
The percentage of students scoring mastery and above at R.J. Vial Elementary School, for example, declined by five percentage points. Lakewood Elementary School’s scores dropped by two percentage points and Luling Elementary’s scores dropped by three percentage points. St. Rose Elementary and Ethel Schoeffner Elementary School also saw lower overall scores this year.
That trend was also apparent at the district’s high schools. The percentage of students scoring mastery and above at Destrehan High School dropped from 50 percent in 2024 to 47 percent this year. Hahnville High School’s scores dropped from 43 percent to 39 percent.
Three of the district’s middle schools, however, saw improvement, including J.B. Martin Middle School, Harry Hurst Middle School and Albert Cammon Middle School.
Babin said math scores at J.B. Martin Middle School and Harry Hurst Middle School saw impressive growth this year, with scores at J.B. Martin increasing by 14 percent. Eighth grade science scores at Harry Hurst increased by 13 percent.
One middle school, however, saw a decline in overall scores: R.K. Smith Middle School dropped six percentage points from last year’s scores.
Other metrics show improvement for parish schools. For example, 77 percent of all K-3 students in the parish are reading at or above benchmark, a six percent increase from the previous year and a top ranking in the state. The high school graduation cohort and strength of diploma indicators, which are both part of the current accountability system formula, showed a 1.6 percent growth for the class of 2024 at each high school.
Babin said parish schools are committed to professional learning communities where teachers meet weekly to discuss the standards, how they will be assessed, and how teachers will support the individual learners when they do or do not master the standards.
“Teachers will continue to strengthen their alignment of best instructional practices and assessment techniques of grade level standards,” she said. “Our teachers are energized about the new school year and are dedicated to their craft.”
Babin encouraged parents to review their child’s performance on each LEAP assessment.
“The achievement level and scaled score will give you insight about how close your child is performing in relation to the mastery level, and the reporting categories indicate the specific areas and the support needed to move forward,” she said. “This can be helpful information to discuss with your child’s teacher about additional supports or enrichments that may be needed for continuous improvement.”
This year’s LEAP scores represent the final set of results under Louisiana’s current accountability system for school districts. Next year’s scores will factor into the first school performance scores under Louisiana’s revised accountability system. Those performance scores will be released in late 2026.
The Louisiana Department of Education has not yet released student scores on the social studies portion of the LEAP exam. Those results will be released later this year once the department finalizes the results from the new social studies tests that were administered for the first time during the 2024-2025 academic year. The LDOE is developing and testing a social studies assessment for Louisiana’s new Freedom Framework social studies standards.
