LEONARD GRAY

LULING – If the results from the LEAP re-testing this week reflect the mood of the students, everything should be smooth as silk. Gayle Clement, coordinator of the LEAP summer school program, said 272 students were tested this week, 70 of them a single test, and the others both the math and language arts tests. “We kept waiting for something to happen, it was so peaceful,” Clement said. District-wide passing rates showed 92 percent of fourth-graders passing the language arts portion, 88 percent passing the mathematics portion, 94 percent passing the science portion and 92 percent passing the social studies portion. Among eighth-graders, 95 percent passed the language arts segment, 85 percent passed the math portion, 86 percent passed the science portion and 83 percent passed the social studies segment. On the other hand, 238 students, of the 1,539 students who took the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program tests, failed one or both of the language arts or mathematics portions by scoring Unsatisfactory. Students’ families were informed of the results, Clement continued, and those not responding to the letter received follow-up contacts through phone calls and personal visits. “Parents were very cooperative,” she added. In addition to those 238 students mentioned above, there were 25 walk-ins, which included new students to the school district and private school students, Clement explained. LEAP summer school was held at Harry Hurst Middle School in Destrehan and J.B. Martin Middle School in Paradis, with new LEAP math tests taken Monday and language arts tests taken Tuesday and Wednesday. Rachel Allemand, executive director of curriculum and assessment, was in charge of the LEAP testing itself. She said of the summer school itself, where 28 teachers worked with the student who qualified for the retests, much more one-on-one attention was available. “It was very organized and it went like clockwork.” Clement added, “It was interesting how calm they were and how few discipline problems they had,” she said. “Discipline was not an issue.” Results from those tests will be received by Aug. 14, with the start of the new school year set Aug. 20. Without passing these tests, those students will not be eligible to be advanced to the next grade.