By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Students in St. James and St. Charles parish schools showed continued growth in LEAP test scores in 2012 compared to 2011, while St. John Parish students remained steady overall, but above state averages in promotional standards, according to recent figures from the state Department of Education.

Each year, students in fourth and eighth grade participate in the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program tests, which determine whether they will be required to attend summer school or be retained. Students score in one of five categories: advanced, mastery, basic, approaching basic and unsatisfactory. Students must score Basic or above in either English language or math and approaching basic or above in the other subject to advance to the next grade.

St. Charles Parish was among the top 10 districts in the state for its scores, with 79 percent of its students scoring basic or above in 2012, up from 77 percent in 2011. In St. James Parish, scores increased from 67 percent to 70 percent.

The percentage of students in St. John Parish scoring basic or above remained at 61 percent, but the district surpassed the state average for students scoring in basic/approaching basic. Eighty-six percent of fourth graders scored in those categories and 78 percent of eighth graders hit the mark.

“Overall, the results are encouraging, especially given the fact that with the many budget cuts, we have seen an increase in the number of students in each classroom,” said St. John School Superintendent Dr. Courtney Millet. “We realize, however, that there are still some pockets of concern at certain grade levels that we will continue to address. This data will help us to bring about the more focused attention necessary to help ensure our students’ success.”

The 3 percent gain in St. James Parish put the district in the top 12 in the state for percentage gains at basic and above for 2012. St. James Superintendent Alonzo “Lonnie” Luce said he was happy to see an increase after the district hit a plateau in growth last year.

“We actually had lots of growth three or four years ago, so it is nice to see increases again this year,” Luce said. “We are trying to refine what we are doing and meet the needs of each student as we go.”

The overall percentage of students in fourth grade scoring basic or above in English and math in all three parishes beat the state averages in 2012.

In St. John, 79 percent of fourth-graders scored basic or above in English and another 79 percent scored basic or above in math. In St. James Parish, 86 percent of fourth-graders scored basic or above in English and 82 percent scored basic or above in math. In St. Charles, 88 percent of fourth-graders scored basic or above in English and 83 percent scored basic or above in math.

Statewide, 75 percent of fourth-graders scored basic or above in English and 73 percent did so in math.

On the eighth grade test, 68 percent of the students in St. John scored basic or above in English and another 68 percent of students scored basic or above in math. In St. James, 56 percent of the students scored basic or above in English and 58 percent of the students scored basic and above in math. In St. Charles, 80 percent scored basic or above in English, and 74 percent scored basic or above in math.

Across the state, 67 percent of eighth-graders scored basic or above in English, and 64 percent did so in math.