Louisiana leads national recovery on reading and math, state education officials say

Louisiana education officials reported March 11 that the state has posted strong national gains on academic-recovery measures, with the Department of Education saying the average Louisiana student "has completed their recovery from the pandemic in reading and math." Jenna Chasson, deputy superintendent for teaching and learning, presented highlights from a recovery scorecard compiled with researchers at Harvard and Stanford.

The presentation said Louisiana ranked first among states in reading recovery and second in math recovery from 2019 to 2024, and that fourth-grade reading performance rose to 16th in the nation. "The average student in Louisiana has completed their recovery from the pandemic in reading and math," Chasson said.

Why it matters: the findings come as the department and local districts weigh how to use remaining federal pandemic funds and how to sustain gains across grade levels. Chasson and Superintendent Brumley credited a concentrated focus on foundational skills in kindergarten through third grade, plus targeted uses of pandemic-era funding for summer learning and tutoring, for the improvements.

Supporting details from the presentation included district- and state-level comparisons using NAEP (the Nation's Report Card) and state assessment data. The department said Louisiana students with disabilities and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds made measurable gains compared with national trends, and that several districts showed case-study–level progress.

Superintendent Brumley told BESE members the department would continue to align funding and training to classroom instruction, saying the recovery was the result of a sustained, statewide effort by educators. "We've put a lot of funding, a lot of efforts, a lot of our training there at those grade levels," he said, adding the state expects further gains as cohorts move into higher grades.

The department also used the meeting to recognize teachers from every BESE region who the agency said were representative of the work behind the numbers; the board presented challenge coins to the teachers and took group photographs.

Ending: Board members applauded the results and stressed continued focus on classroom instruction and supports for students who remain behind grade level. Chasson closed the presentation saying the work is not finished: "Until every student in our state can read and do math on grade level, we know that we have so much more work to do."