First used last year as a means to simplify performance data for parents, schools and school districts across the state are receiving their annual letter grades and report cards this afternoon. Public schools and school districts across the state will receive their 2011-2012 school year letter grades this afternoon when state Superintendent John White releases them via a news conference scheduled for 1 p.m.
School letter grades are based largely on standardized test scores, as well as attendance for elementary and middle schools and graduation rates for high schools. They were first used last year as a means to simplify for parents how their children's respective schools and districts are performing.
As Nola.com reports, last year's letter grades placed 44 percent of Louisiana's public schools in the D or F range, while only 28 percent of schools statewide earned an A or B.
Lafayette Parish School System earned an overall letter grade of C last year, with 16 of its 39 schools earning a letter grade of D or D-. Only one school in Lafayette Parish, Lafayette Charter High School, earned an F+, while four LPSS schools earned A letter grades: Early College Academy, Ernest Gallet Elementary, Plantation Elementary and Woodvale Elementary.
Plantation Elementary earned the highest letter grade in the district with an A+.
Click here to see 2010-2011 school report cards as listed on the state Department of Education's website.
Read more from Nola.com here.