PRESS RELEASE
May 13, 2026
Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342
Louisiana Ranks 3rd in Math and 2nd in Reading Recovery—the Only State in the Nation to Surpass 2019 Levels in Reading
Louisiana is one of only two states performing above 2019 levels in math, and the only state in the nation that has surpassed its pre-pandemic reading benchmark.
Lafourche, St. John the Baptist, and Webster are leading the way in math performance, while West Baton Rouge, St. Martin, and Concordia are leading the way in reading.
Chronic absenteeism is rising and remains a significant challenge, threatening to slow future gains.
(May 13, 2026) In its fourth year, the Education Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University, and faculty at Dartmouth College) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.
The latest report provides a high-resolution picture of where Louisiana students’ academic recovery stands, combining state test results for roughly 35 million grade 3–8 students nationwide with national assessment data to describe changes in local communities. Here’s what we found:
Louisiana:
- Louisiana ranked 3rd out of 38 states (including D.C.) in academic growth in math and 2nd out of 35 states (including D.C.) in reading between 2022 and 2025.
- In math, the average student is performing about .43 grade equivalents above their 2022 level, and about .07 above 2019 levels. Louisiana is one of two states performing above 2019 levels in math. And still, some districts like Vernon, St. Martin, and St. Landry continue to lag behind 2019 levels.
- In reading, the average student is performing about .22 grade equivalents above their 2022 level, and about .29 grade equivalents above 2019 levels. Louisiana is the only state performing above 2019 reading levels. And still, a number of districts like St. Charles, St. Mary, and Vernon continue to remain behind their 2019 levels.
- Several Louisiana districts are emerging as Districts on the Rise. These districts have shown unusual progress relative to similar districts in their own state. One district is excelling in both math and reading, with Natchitoches Parish outperforming its peers.
- Several other districts are rising relative to their peers in one subject—either math or reading. Lafourche, St. John the Baptist, and Webster are leading the way in math performance, while West Baton Rouge, St. Martin, and Concordia are leading the way in reading.
- Statewide, chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10% of a school year) continues to be an issue, rising from 18.8% in 2022 to 22% in 2025—around 5 percentage points above pre-pandemic levels.
- Louisiana received about $4.05 billion in federal pandemic relief for K–12 schools—roughly $6,000 per student. Our analysis finds that the gains in many high-poverty districts were driven by this federal support. Unfortunately, many middle-poverty districts (those with 30 to 70 percent of students receiving federal lunch subsidies) received little federal aid. Now that the federal relief is gone, Louisiana should focus school improvement dollars on the middle and higher poverty districts that remain behind their pre-pandemic levels.
“The pandemic was the mudslide that followed seven years of erosion in student achievement,” said Professor Tom Kane, faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. “The ‘learning recession’ started a decade ago, after policymakers switched off the early warning system of test-based accountability and social media took over children’s lives. In this report, we highlight the work of a small group of state leaders who have started digging out by changing how students learn to read, and 108 local school districts that are finding ways to get students learning again. The recovery of U.S. education has begun. But it’s up to the rest of us to spread it.”
District on the Rise: West Baton Rouge Parish School System
West Baton Rouge Parish School System (WBR) stands out among Louisiana’s Districts on the Rise in reading for building a tightly integrated system of curriculum, data, and accountability that reaches every school and every student. In fall 2023, the district conducted a comprehensive needs assessment with an external partner, using ESSER funds to inform the adoption of new high-quality instructional materials—selecting Wit & Wisdom for ELA and adding Wilson Fundations for K–3 phonics and phonemic awareness, creating a complete literacy framework.
Implementation was supported through instructional coaches and weekly PLCs where teachers align curriculum and assessments, while school leaders participate in parallel PLCs to reinforce expectations. The district built a system of district common assessments (DCAs) validated against prior state LEAP results and tracked in real time alongside LEAP scores, enabling teachers and leaders to project whether students are on track to meet growth targets and identify struggling grade levels before results are locked in.
That data infrastructure is organized around an “ABC” School-Wide Plan framework—Attendance, Behavior, and Core Instruction—with each school tracking a consistent set of monthly indicators against its own prior-year baseline rather than against other schools. District leaders conduct quarterly reviews of every school, translating findings into required action steps for the following quarter. On attendance, the district uses a multi-touch family engagement strategy combining daily texts for absent students, research-based messages through Everyday Labs that leverage social norms, and escalating outreach at 3, 5, and 11 consecutive absences—framing every conversation as a learning discussion rather than a compliance measure. For the full case study, click here.
“Our success in West Baton Rouge is rooted in our focus on improving and measuring the ‘ABCs’—Attendance, Behavior, and Core Instruction,” said Dr. Chandler Smith, Superintendent of West Baton Rouge Parish School System. “By tracking these indicators in real-time, we have moved beyond just looking at numbers to performing deep, student-level diagnostics that allow us to pinpoint exactly where challenges lie and fix them before they become permanent gaps.”
District on the Rise: Natchitoches Parish School Board
Natchitoches Parish School Board (NPSB) stands out for building a system of teacher excellence and data-driven instruction that reaches every classroom. Using ESSER funds, the district partnered with the National Institute for Teaching (NIET) to place master teachers in every school, adopting NIET’s TAP system—a comprehensive teacher evaluation and professional development framework that links career advancement and salary increases to classroom performance. The district’s highest-performing teacher received more than $9,000 in additional compensation, and NPSB won a $14.26 million federal Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program grant in 2024 to sustain and expand the work.
On literacy, the district transitioned to a science-of-reading curriculum four years ago, requiring every teacher to complete a two-year, 60-hour training in evidence-based reading instruction. NPSB uses DIBELS screeners in grades K–3, daily 45-minute WIN (Whatever I Need) intervention blocks in every classroom focused on ELA, and four dedicated literacy interventionists working in small groups—with mid-year data showing 50% of those students met their DIBELS growth goal. The district’s data infrastructure ties everything together: quarterly proficiency exams, weekly instructional leadership team meetings that include the superintendent, and a sophisticated tracking system giving teachers and leaders real-time access to student performance at every level. For the full case study, click here.
“Natchitoches is unwavering in its commitment to protecting the academic processes that drive student success. To us, our investments in mentor and master teachers, performance-based pay, and evidence-based instruction are sacred,” said Dr. Grant Eloi, Superintendent of Natchitoches Parish School Board. “We analyze every dollar through the lens of its academic return on investment, ensuring that even as we lean out our operations, we never compromise the quality of support provided to our teachers and students.”
