New Research Says Louisiana Schools Are The 3rd Worst In The US
Its not secret that Louisiana schools are bad. The state has perpetually finished in the bottom 5 states for school rankings for a long time. But even as new programs are launched in an attempt to improve, new issues are emerging to blunt the impact of improvement.
The biggest hinderance to education in Louisiana, and the whole United States, was COVID pandemic restrictions. The learning loss created by keeping kids out of school is something that will likely never be corrected for an entire generation of students. This new research shows test scores between low-poverty and high-poverty elementary schools increased by 15% to 20% during the COVID pandemic. Which was a massive issue in Louisiana.
After the COVID pandemic restrictions destroyed schools across the country, here's where Louisiana ranked, based on the research from Wallethub:
Quality & Safety of Schools in Louisiana (1=Best; 25=Avg.):
48th – Math Test Scores
47th – Reading Test Scores
46th – Pupil-Teacher Ratio
16th – Median SAT Score
47th – Median ACT Score
47th – % of Licensed/Certified Public K–12 Teachers
47th – Dropout Rate
22nd – Bullying Incidence Rate
43rd – % of Threatened/Injured High School Students
States that maintained COVID restrictions for prolonged periods also performed poorly in the research. California was rated #40, Oregon #44, and Michigan #38. States that either had their restrictions lifted quickly, or had a court adjust their restrictions did pretty well. Wisconsin rated #10, Florida #14, North Dakota #8, and Nebraska #9.
Other states with lowered COVID restrictions that landed in the top half of the rankings include Montana (25), Wyoming (20), Utah (13), Iowa (19), and Indiana (22).
You can find the complete list of states, and metrics used to track their performance, right here.