Supt. Alfred Simmons told the Winn Parish School Board in committee session Nov. 27 that he is proud of the growth shown by the recent release of the LA Department of Education’s School & District Reference Scores. Yet it was apparent when central office staff took time to explain the ins and outs of this statewide assessment, it’s a pretty complex and confusing formula to arrive at those scores.
The individual schools and the parish system as a whole receive letter grades like in the classroom. Simmons told the board that while he always pushes “because I want the parish to have an ‘A,’ but our efforts are really for the children. We want them to succeed in life. A better education allows them to do whatever they choose better, whether that includes post-secondary education or not. They can have a happier, healthier life.”
Board members heard that while improvements were generally shown across the parish for the 2022-23 school year compared to the prior year, “we can’t keep doing what we have been doing even to stay where we are,” reported Nancy Crain. The state’s grading scales increase, meaning that standing still means moving backwards. She pointed out that while supervisors can work hard to translate the state standards, the real difference in a child’s education is made in the classroom.
Amanda Taylor noted that funding through grants makes a difference in areas like remediation sessions. These are shown to work better in small daily small groups rather than one longer session weekly. “We don’t want to see growth just for a school score,” she said. “We want growth for our students to be able to better perform and contribute to society.”
Asked how the state’s convoluted assessment system was drawn up, Simmons suggested it was developed by individuals, come now retired, and committees. “But it’s what it is and we do the best we can to play the game. There was a battle at BESE last year about the difficulty of the system. There could be changes next year with the new BESE and we’ll work with that new system then.”