Lafayette Parish Graduation Rates Slow Slight Decline

The Louisiana Department of Education released the final 2018 graduation rates for Louisiana high schools today.

According to the results, graduation rates in Lafayette Parish High Schools show a slight decline from 76.8% to 76.6% since 2017.

The Lafayette Parish School System recognizes the importance of continuing to raise the graduation rate in its high schools. To combat low graduation rates, teachers and administrators in Lafayette Parish vow to continue to increase the use of performance data to monitor student progress and allow well-informed and timely interventions when students fail to progress at expected rates.

This means the continuation of to a program called "Target: Graduation" designed for Seniors who need to retake an End-of-Course exam, earn Carnegie credit or a JumpStart credential. These students will have the opportunity to do so at no cost during the summer.

The Lafayette Parish School Board is also currently reworking curriculum for students who enter high school with deficits in English Language Arts in order to better support them as they work to fill skill gaps. Additionally, High school counselors and administrators are creating more individualized schedules to better meet the needs of students.

In addressing these needs, many Lafayette Parish Schools are showing some success. In mathematics, LPSS offers Intensive Algebra I for students who enter high school with math deficits. Acadiana High School showed a significant 9.5% growth from 2017 to 2018.

ECA and David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy continue to have excellent graduation rates. Northside High School, Lafayette High School, and Comeaux High School showed slight gains. Carencro High School’s graduation rate declined 5.2%.

Additionally, the school system has continued to expanded its Jump Start initiatives to accommodate the Jump Start TOPS Tech Diploma pathway by offering students more choices in earning workforce-ready credentials.

Finally, the school system has added supports to enhance students’ opportunities to take and excel in Advanced Placement, College Level Examination Program, ACT testing and college dual enrollment coursework all. All of these are aligned with the TOPS University Diploma pathway.