Louisiana Student Performance Surpasses Pre-pandemic Levels

Louisiana officials on Wednesday touted the state’s continued rise in national education rankings, after a new scorecard placed Louisiana first in reading growth and second in math growth. The report, produced by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth, found Louisiana was the only state where average student performance has surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic levels in both reading and math. State officials credited literacy and math reforms, tutoring, school improvement efforts, high-quality instructional materials and a new statewide student attendance strategy. Gov. Jeff Landry also pointed to a return “back to the basics” and removal of “woke, DEI material” from curriculum.