State Officials consider easing LEAP test

Complaints from parents have prompted state educators to consider a plan that would make it easier for eighth-graders to pass a key test required for promotion in Louisiana public schools.
The proposal would offer public school students who fail the test more options to meet alternative state standards and move on to the ninth grade. Critics of the plan say it would be a rollback in state education standards.
A final decision by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may come in December.
The exam, the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program, is supposed to ensure that fourth- and eighth-graders master basic skills in math and English before they are promoted to the fifth and ninth grades.
The latest dispute focuses strictly on eighth-graders and whether the state offers enough options for students who strike out on the test for a second time.
LEAP results fall into five categories: advanced, mastery, basic, approaching basic and unsatisfactory.
Under tougher rules that took effect this year, eighth-graders are supposed to score at least “basic” in one subject and “approaching basic” in the other for promotion.
The previous standard was at least “approaching basic” in both subjects.
Under a little-noticed state waiver, students who fail the test in the spring, attend summer school and then score “approaching basic” in math and English are eligible for promotion, said Scott Norton, assistant superintendent for student and school performance.
That is allowed, Norton said Wednesday, “even though you have not met the standard” to advance.
But that exception is not enough to satisfy parents and families of some students who failed. Even with the waiver nearly one in four eighth-graders 23 percent failed the test after summer school.
“We had hundreds, if not thousands, of phone calls about the waiver,” Norton said.
One option that is winning favor with educators, Norton said, would be to expand the combination of test scores that would allow students to advance to the ninth grade after a second unsuccessful try on LEAP.
For instance, instead of scoring “approaching basic” on both tests after summer school, students might still qualify for promotion if they score high in one subject and low in the other.
Expanding ways to let students move to the ninth grade fails to address the problem, said Brigitte Nieland, director of education and work force development for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.
The focus should be on addressing why students cannot meet current standards, she said.
Norton said the plan does not represent a weakening of state education goals.
“I don’t believe it is lowering the bar,” he said. “I believe it is refining the waiver that already exists.”