It’s carnival season in Louisiana, and it seems that everywhere you turn, there’s a celebration. Last week, an education press conference made an unusual but welcome addition to the festivities. Surrounded by balloons and children’s smiling faces, Governor Landry, state lawmakers, and educators joined State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and members of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in announcing Louisiana’s leap on the Nation’s Report Card—results of a nationwide test that measures student’s proficiency in reading and math every two years.

The rest of the nation posted a troubling decline that continues post-COVID shutdowns, but Louisiana was one of just a few states where students demonstrated learning gains from 2022 to 2024. This was enough to allow the state’s rankings to climb to an overall state ranking of 32nd, thanks in large part to 4th grade reading scores that leaped from 42nd place in 2022 to 16th place last year, and 8th grade reading scores that were flat amid larger drops in other states, allowing them to climb 10 spots to 29th place.

The state’s scores increased in 4th grade reading and math as well as 8th grade math; the 8th grade reading score was the same as 2022.

Compared to pre-pandemic performance (2019), Louisiana experienced a “significant [positive] score difference” in 4th grade reading and a smaller increase in 4th grade math. Eighth grade reading remained flat and 8th grade math retained the label of having a “significant [lower] score difference” as it remains five points lower than 2019. Sustaining and boosting students’ learning gains through middle/junior high school and as they transition to high school continues to be a big challenge.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—the Nation’s Report Card
Louisiana Results

State education leaders also noted that Louisiana’s students with disabilities and its economically disadvantaged students outpaced the nation in achievement and growth.

While the results show solid progress, particularly in 4th grade, and everyone loves a boost in national rankings, Superintendent Brumley put things in perspective: “We can be pleased, but we can’t be satisfied.” In another interview, he elaborated:

“Look, we’re very excited. Our team is excited, teachers are excited, the governor is excited — everyone is happy about the progress. I am thankful too. This is a place we’ve never been as a state.

But too many kids can’t read on grade level. Too many can’t do math. And too many are still stuck in schools that are failing them. We’ve got a ton of work to do.”

Louisiana’s own state test of reading and math proficiency is evidence of the same. Last year’s Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) scores revealed that 43% of students in grades 3-8 are proficient in English language arts (ELA) and 31% in math.

  • In ELA, students in grades 3-8 improved their previous overall proficiency rate by one point compared to 2023. ELA mastery rates improved in grades 3, 5, 6, and 7 and declined in grades 4 and 8.
  • In math, overall student performance in grades 3-8 was flat. Math proficiency rates improved in grades 4 and 7, remained the same in grades 5 and 6, and declined in grades 3 and 8.

State leaders are hopeful that several bold strategies initiated over the past several years—and interrupted by the pandemic and an unusually high number of natural disasters—will turn the tide. Louisiana has taken big steps to improve the teaching of reading as children start elementary school, improve the preparation of teachers and strengthen their ability to effectively teach foundational content, focus schools on proficiency in core academic subjects, and target resources on proven interventions like high-dosage tutoring.

Over the past two decades, Louisiana governors and lawmakers have also empowered families to find a school or educational program that fits the individual needs of their children, including many who may be struggling in a traditional setting or a government-zoned public school. Last year, the state became the 12th state in the nation to enact a universal education savings account (ESA) program known as LA GATOR, which is expected to launch this summer. This will be a game changer, especially if lawmakers are serious about opening it up to all Louisiana families who need it, but there’s more work to be done. Rigid, antiquated public school attendance zones and all-or-nothing enrollment policies often restrict families’ ability to give their kids a high-quality, customized educational experience that leverages the abundant public and non-public educational offerings of the 21st century.

Progress is slow and difficult; sustaining and accelerating these gains will require policymakers and educational leaders to stay the course. Napoleon Bonaparte is often quoted saying, “Victory belongs to the most persevering.” Few things are more important than persevering for the benefit of Louisiana’s children and our state’s future.