Principal Jenenne Coulon was observing a teacher’s lesson last month when text messages came pouring in.
For h educators, the annual school ratings can inspire delight or dread — a year's worth of grueling work condensed to a single A-F grade, which the public often sees as shorthand for whether a given school is “good” or “bad.” This year was especially nerve-wracking as the state issued, in addition to schools’ official grades, simulated scores based on a tougher rating system that takes effect next year.
Coulon ran back to her office at Judge Lionel R. Collins Elementary School and pulled up the grades.
The Marrero school, where about 90% of students are economically disadvantaged, had seen its rating fall to a D last year after taking in about 100 students from two shuttered campuses. But this year, things drastically improved: Not only did Collins land on the state’s list of top-growing schools, boosting its official rating to a C, but its simulated grade was a B — the highest in Coulon’s decade leading the school.
She shrieked and cried, then collected herself before making a schoolwide announcement. Finally, the grade reflected the school she knows, where educators strive with each lesson, tutoring session and pep talk to push students steadily forward.
“I felt vindicated,” Coulon said. “We work so hard over here, and now it’s showing up in the accountability system.”
Judge Lionel R. Collins Elementary Principal Jenenne Coulon is pictured at the school in Marrero on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
For most schools, the simulated scores were a worrying preview of challenges ahead. Hundreds of campuses, including 75% of the state’s high schools, would have earned lower grades under the new rating system than the current one, which ends this year.
Yet just over 130 public schools, or about 10% of the total, defied the trend. Those campuses, almost all elementary or middle schools, managed to get higher grades under the tougher system.
One likely reason is that the schools excel at catching up students who start behind. The new rating system rewards that by putting much more weight on growth, or how much students’ test scores improve each year, while deemphasizing proficiency, or the share of students who met grade-level targets.
Focusing on proficiency can penalize schools that serve more economically disadvantaged students, whom research shows , said Douglas Harris, a Tulane University economist who studies education. By contrast, growth accounts for students’ different starting points by emphasizing progress over final scores.
“Schools don't control where students are on the first day of school,” Harris said in an email, “but they do control what students learn and how they grow. So, we should reward them for that.”
Judge Lionel R. Collins Elementary School students make their way to class at the school in Marrero on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
Rewarding progress
The state’s new rating system, which will be used to calculate school grades next fall, puts a premium on such growth.
Students’ year-over-year improvement on state tests will count for 54% of each K-8 school’s grade, more than double its weight under the current system. Proficiency will make up 46% of each elementary school’s grade, down from 70%.
“We see elementary schools that are doing really good work and they're growing kids, but they previously haven't received the letter grade recognition that they probably deserve,” said state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley. “Now, they're finally going to be honored.”
Judge Lionel R. Collins Elementary School teacher Ashley Washington, right, teaches a math class at the school in Marrero on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
Schools will also be graded on how many of their lowest-performing students improve each year. That metric aims to focus educators’ attention on the most struggling students, not just those who are closest to reaching mastery, the third of five achievement levels in the state’s system and the point at which state leaders consider a child fully prepared for the next grade level.
Jeff Powell, superintendent of the Rapides Parish school district, said he appreciates that the new expectations have come with support. For example, Brumley and the state Education Department launched a program, which the Legislature funded, to provide struggling students with intensive tutoring.
“What we’re seeing is law, policy and resources converging to get the desired outcomes,” he said.
Rapides Parish is poised to do well under the new system, with 13 of its schools getting higher simulated grades than official ones this year — more than any other district. Powell said there’s no “secret sauce” for nurturing student growth, but an essential ingredient is highly skilled and motivated educators.
“This is the result of a lot of teachers doing a lot of really hard, good work,” he said
One school’s turnaround
The revised rating system has revealed the hidden strength of schools like Shady Grove Elementary.
Based in Monroe, where the share of children living in poverty is nearly four times the national rate, Shady Grove serves an especially high-need population. Many of its students start far behind academically, making proficiency — defined as scoring at the “mastery” level or above on state tests — a high bar to reach.
Under the current accountability system, in which proficiency rates drive elementary schools’ grades, Shady Grove earned F’s the past two years.
“That hurt,” said Principal Janitra Underwood. “I knew the work we were doing to get where we needed to be.”
In her four years at the school’s helm, she’s pushed her staff to closely track student data, provide extra help to struggling students and reward student growth. To celebrate reading gains, the school gave out ice cream sandwiches that students could slather with chocolate syrup, gummy bears and other toppings.
This year, the hard work finally paid off. Shady Grove improved its score by more points than any other school in the state, raising its grade to a D. Its simulated grade, generated by the new growth-driven rating system, jumped to a C.
Though its proficiency rates remain far below state averages, with just 19% of students reaching mastery or above in English and 11% doing so in math, its growth rate is exceptionally high. Two-thirds of students made gains in English last school year and nearly 60% did in math, far outpacing the state’s growth rate.
“Every student can grow,” Underwood said, “and we can do our part to grow them.”
Helping students soar
Judge Lionel R. Collins Elementary Principal Jenenne Coulon walks with second-grader Indie Girard at the school in Marrero on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
At Collins Elementary in Marrero, Principal Coulon has a two-pronged strategy to help every student soar.
First, teachers stick to grade-level material during core classes like English and math, rather than slowing down to reteach concepts that some students missed. Second, the school devotes an hour every day to specialized support to help stragglers catch up and push top-achievers further.
During that time, students are divided into groups. Some get lessons from the classroom teacher to fill gaps in their learning. Others get individual support from different staffers, like the school’s master teacher or English language instructor. Still others work with tutors over video.
“That’s where our growth comes from,” Coulon said of the daily personalized-support period. “I can tell you that.”
The school’s growth numbers are striking, especially in math. Nearly 70% of students improved their scores this year, almost 30 percentage points more than the share of students statewide who made math gains.
Coulon said she's especially gratified by the gains because she promised "to leave these students in a better place" before she retires, which she expects to do soon. The progress also affirms her belief that every student can succeed with the right support.
“Once you give them the opportunity to excel and grow,” she said, “they're going to take off.”
