The results are in.
Last week, the Louisiana Department of Educationreleased scores from the state LEAP tests, which students in grades 3-8 and high school take each spring. The results show that students’ post-COVID rebound in math and science stalled last school year, but they’ve mostly made up lost ground in English.
Want to see how individual schools performed?Click here for a searchable database.
Statewide, 43% of students in grades 3-8 reached “mastery” or above, the cutoff score that state officials say indicates students are ready to advance to the next grade level. Just 31% of students hit that mark in math, and only 28% did so in science.
Below we’ve rounded up schools in Acadiana with the highest percentages of students in grades 3-8 achieving mastery in math and English. We also ranked high school mastery rates, which combine student scores on six state tests: English I and II, algebra, geometry, biology and U.S. History.
This year we added a new set of lists: The top-performing schools where most of the students are economically disadvantaged, which we're calling overcoming-the-odds schools.
Under state guidelines, students fall into that category if they're eligible for food assistance for low-income families, Medicaid, reduced-price school meals or other assistance programs, or they are English learners, homeless or in state custody. For our lists, we included schools where the share of disadvantaged students exceeded the statewide rate in 2023-24, which was 72.5%.
Decades of research show thatpoverty and test scores are closely linked: Schools that serve more poor students tend to have lower scores.
In Louisiana, the correlation is striking. Just look at this year’s grades 3-8 math test. In the fifth of schools with the highest mastery rates, the median share of disadvantaged students was about 60%, according to a Times-Picayune | Advocate analysis. But in the fifth of schools with the lowest scores, the median disadvantaged rate was more than 90%.
Poverty often overlaps with other hardships — food insecurity, housing instability, health challenges and more — that can make showing up to school, much less preparing for a standardized test, exceptionally difficult. So schools that help disadvantaged students beat the odds deserve to be celebrated.
Included in Acadiana are the following parishes: Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermilion.
Most public schools are open to all students in their attendance zone or district. But some — such as magnet schools or those with specialized programs — admit students based on test scores, grades, or other criteria. Those schools are indicated with an asterisk.
Top 10 schools — English, grades 3-8 (overall)
1. Myrtle Place Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 84%
2. Evangeline Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 80%
3. Dozier Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 76%
4. Magnet Academy for Cultural Arts (St. Landry Parish)*: 75%
5. Egan Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 74%
5. Seventh Ward Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 74%
7. David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy (Lafayette Parish)*: 73%
8. Delcambre Elementary School (Iberia Parish): 72%
8. Ernest Gallet Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 72%
8. W. W. Stewart Elementary School (Evangeline Parish): 72%
9. Indian Bayou Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 71%
10. Cecil Picard Elementary School at Maurice (Vermilion Parish): 70%
10. Green T. Lindon Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 70%
Top 10 schools — English, grades 3-8 (overcoming the odds)
1. Seventh Ward Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 74%
2. Palmetto Elementary School (St. Landry Parish): 68%
3. Jefferson Island Road Elementary (Iberia Parish): 62%
4. Coteau Elementary School (Iberia Parish): 61%
5. Caneview Elementary School (Iberia Parish): 58%
5. Mamou Elementary School (Evangeline Parish): 58%
6. Glendale Elementary School (St. Landry Parish): 57%
7. Morse Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 56%
8. Estherwood Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 55%
9. Grand Prairie Elementary School (St. Landry Parish): 54%
10. East Elementary School (St. Landry Parish): 53%
10. Elton Elementary School (Jefferson Davis Parish): 53%
Top 10 schools — Math, grades 3-8 (overall)
1. Myrtle Place Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 85%
2. Egan Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 76%
3. Delcambre Elementary School (Iberia Parish): 72%
3. Cecil Picard Elementary School at Maurice (Vermilion Parish): 72%
4. Green T. Lindon Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 69%
5. Evangeline Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 68%
6. Broadmoor Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 67%
6. Mermentau Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 67%
7. Ernest Gallet Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 66%
8. Stephensville Elementary School (St. Martin Parish): 65%
9. Indian Bayou Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 64%
9. Seventh Ward Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 64%
9. L. Leo Judice Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 64%
10. Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy (Charter school): 62%
Top 10 schools — Math, grades 3-8 (overcoming the odds)
1. Seventh Ward Elementary School (Vermilion Parish): 64%
2. Estherwood Elementary School (Acadia Parish): 61%
3. Mamou Elementary School (Evangeline Parish): 57%
4. Duson Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 55%
5. Charles M. Burke Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 53%
5. Elton Elementary School (Jefferson Davis Parish): 53%
6. Palmetto Elementary School (St. Landry Parish): 52%
7. Caneview Elementary School (Iberia Parish): 51%
7. Grand Prairie Elementary School (St. Landry Parish): 51%
8. Jefferson Island Road Elementary (Iberia Parish): 49%
9. Wyandotte Elementary School (St. Mary Parish): 48%
9. Coteau Elementary School (Iberia Parish): 48%
10. Ridge Elementary School (Lafayette Parish): 47%
Top 10 high schools (overall)
1. Early College Academy (Lafayette Parish)*: 95%
2. Magnet Academy for Cultural Arts (St. Landry Parish)*: 69%
3. David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy (Lafayette Parish)*: 63%
4. Erath High School (Vermilion Parish): 59%
5. Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy (Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy): 57%
6. Southside High School (Lafayette Parish): 55%
6. North Vermilion High School (Vermilion Parish): 55%
7. Lafayette High School (Lafayette Parish): 52%
8. Loreauville High School (Iberia Parish): 51%
9. Kaplan High School (Vermilion Parish): 48%
10. Delcambre High School (Iberia Parish): 47%
10. Lacassine High School (Jefferson Davis Parish): 47%
Top 10 high schools (overcoming the odds)
1. JS Clark Leadership Academy (Charter school): 31%
2. Jeanerette Senior High School (Iberia Parish): 29%
3. Mamou High School (Evangeline Parish): 28%
3. Westgate High School (Iberia Parish): 28%
4. Patterson High School (St. Mary Parish): 24%
5. Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy (Charter school): 22%
5. Carencro High School (Lafayette Parish): 22%
5. St. Martinville Senior High School (St. Martin Parish): 22%
6. Breaux Bridge High School (St. Martin Parish): 21%
7. Crowley High School (Acadia Parish): 20%
8. Northwest High School (St. Landry Parish): 20%
9. Centerville High School (St. Mary Parish): 19%
10. Abbeville High School (Vermilion Parish): 18%
