Louisiana Moves Up in Education Rankings From U.S. News & World Report

BATON ROUGE, La. (KPEL-FM) - There are plenty of things that aren't the best in Louisiana. Historically, education has not been all that great. But in recent years, things have seemingly been turning around in that department.

And if you believe the latest U.S. News & World Report Best States ranking, you would continue to have confidence in that belief.

In the most recent ranking, Louisiana came in 37th for Pre-K-12 education. That's up three spots from last year.

That also makes the third straight year where Louisiana has seen an improvement in the rankings. The state has gone from 41 to 40 and now to 37 in the publisher's rankings.

What was the methodology used for the best states for education rankings?

This subcategory in the Best States rankings measures state performance across the life cycle of a young person's education, encompassing preschool enrollment, standardized test scores among eighth-graders, high school graduation rate, and college readiness.

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What can we attribute the education ranking improvement to in Louisiana?

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) attributes a few factors to the improvement, including offering students high-dosage tutoring support, refreshing foundational math, and executing the Science of Reading, among other things.

“Louisiana is the most rapidly improving state in the country when it comes to education,” said Louisiana State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley. “These consistent national gains are the result of intentional strategy, focused instruction, and the hard work of educators, students, and parents across our state.”

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Good news follows good news

This improvement in the U.S. News & World Report rankings follows the good news earlier this year that students in Louisiana achieved their highest ranking ever on The Nation's Report Card.

Louisiana went from 49th in 2019 to 32nd in the overall rankings this year. 4th grade and 8th grade reading and math also saw huge improvements in the rankings.