RESERVE — The St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District achieved significant growth on the recently released Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests taken by students in the spring, school officials said.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District increased its percentile rank by 14 when compared with the 2014 rankings for the percentage of students scoring mastery or above in English language arts and math, the fourth-highest growth among school districts statewide and the largest growth among New Orleans-area school districts.

“As the state puts in place tougher standards, the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District continues not just to improve but to leap forward,” Superintendent Kevin George said. “To show such tremendous growth as our students are tested on these higher standards is truly an accomplishment, and I’d like to send out a congratulations to all of our staff members who pulled together ‘As One’ to push our students to achieve at a higher level.”

The Louisiana Department of Education released the scores Thursday. It is the first year students have taken the PARCC tests, which are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and replace the LEAP and iLEAP in grades third through eighth in English language arts and math.

Because assessments and eligible student populations changed, the Louisiana Department of Education compared district rankings to show progress.

St. John moved up from the 30th percentile to the 44th percentile among Louisiana’s public school districts in 2015.

Last year, St. John adopted a more rigorous curriculum for English language arts (Louisiana Guidebooks) and math (Eureka Math).

The district also developed a group of teacher leaders — those leaders receiving extra professional development in best practices in ELA and math. They returned to their school sites to work with their fellow teachers.

Parents will receive their child’s individual test reports during the week of Nov. 9. The district will host a PARCC Parent Resource Informational meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at the LaPlace branch of the St. John the Baptist Parish Public Library.