2022 City Studies
Summary of Findings
This summary highlights major findings about students’ academic performance in public K-12 schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Performance is measured by one-year learning gains or growth students made from one school year to the next. We benchmark Baton Rouge students’ growth against the state average growth and then compare the progress of charter and selective school students with that of similar traditional district school students within Baton Rouge, accounting for student characteristics.
Overall:
Students in Baton Rouge posted similar growth throughout the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years compared to the state average in reading. In math, Baton Rouge students exhibited stronger growth across both growth periods than an average student in the state.
Sector:
In both reading and math, magnet school students in Baton Rouge made stronger gains than the state average over the two growth periods. Baton Rouge students enrolled in charter schools grow similarly in reading compared to an average student in the state across the two years. Students in Baton Rouge charter schools posted similar learning gains in math in 2017-18, while outperformed the statewide average in 2018-19 growth period. Baton Rouge district school students were on par with the statewide average in both reading and math across the two years.
Comparisons of sectors within Baton Rouge indicate magnet schools exhibited greater learning gains in both reading and math throughout the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years compared to district schools. In both years, Baton Rouge students enrolled in charter schools showed similar growth in reading and math when compared to the district schools. Baton Rouge magnet schools outperformed Baton Rouge charter schools in reading in both periods, while outperformed in math in 2017-18 growth period only.
A deeper dive into Baton Rouge student growth for the period ending in Spring 2019 reveals the following findings:
Charter School Type:
Baton Rouge charter schools affiliated with a Charter Management Organization (CMO) exhibited stronger growth than the state average in both reading and math, while students in independent charter schools make similar growth in reading and math than the average student in the state. Sector comparison within Baton Rouge indicates that the students in CMO charter schools outperform independent charter school students in both subjects.
Race/Ethnicity:
Overall, Baton Rouge black students make similar learning gains in reading and stronger learning gains in math compared to the state average black student. Breakout analyses by sector suggest that black students enrolled in magnet schools show greater growth in both subjects than the average black student in the state. Baton Rouge charter black students grow similarly in reading compared to the state average, while making greater progress in math than an average student in the state. Baton Rouge district black students grow on par with the state average in both subjects. Shifting the focus to sector comparison within Baton Rouge, black students enrolled in charter schools post stronger reading and similar math growth than district school black students. Black students enrolled in magnet schools outperform district school black students in reading and math.
Baton Rouge Hispanic students overall do not perform differently in reading and math compared to the average Hispanic student in the state. Sector breakout analyses reveal that Hispanic students in Baton Rouge charter schools make similar progress in reading, while making stronger progress in math relative to the average Hispanic student statewide. Baton Rouge Hispanic students enrolled in magnet schools make stronger learning gains in reading and similar growth in math compared to the average Hispanic student in the state. District school Hispanic students in Baton Rouge exhibit similar performance in both subjects than the average Hispanic student in the state. Cross-sector comparisons within Baton Rouge indicate stronger growth in math among charter school Hispanic students compared to the growth among district school Hispanic students. Magnet school Hispanic students in Baton Rouge outgrow district school Hispanic students in both subjects.
Poverty, ELL, and Special Education:
Baton Rouge students living in poverty overall post similar learning gains in reading, while making stronger learning gains in math compared to the average student living in poverty in the state. Sector breakout analyses show stronger growth in math and similar growth in reading among students in poverty enrolled in Baton Rouge charter schools relative to the state average of students living in poverty. Baton Rouge magnet school students in poverty demonstrate stronger growth in both subjects compared to the average student in poverty statewide. District school students living in poverty in Baton Rouge exhibit similar performance in both subjects than the average student living in poverty in the state. Comparisons of sectors within Baton Rouge demonstrate charter school students in poverty outperform district school students in poverty in both reading and math. Baton Rouge students in poverty enrolled in magnet school outperform district school students in poverty in both subjects.
English Language Learners (ELLs) in Baton Rouge as a whole demonstrate weaker learning gains in reading and similar learning gains in math relative to the average ELL student in the state. School sector breakout analyses indicate that when compared to the statewide average ELL, Baton Rouge ELLs in charter schools make similar progress in reading and stronger learning gains in math. ELL students enrolled in Baton Rouge magnet schools make similar learning gains compared to the average ELL student in the state in both subjects. ELL students enrolled in Baton Rouge district schools underperform average ELL student in the state in reading, while grow on par with an average ELL student in the state in math.
Comparisons of sectors within Baton Rouge show ELL students in charter schools exhibit stronger gains in math, while post similar learning gains in reading compared to the district school ELL students. ELL students in magnet schools outperform their district school counterparts in both subjects.
Baton Rouge students receiving special education services overall exhibit similar growth in reading and stronger growth in math when compared to an average student receiving special education services in the state. Breakout analyses by sector suggest that special education students enrolled in Baton Rouge charter schools grow on par with the average special education statewide in both subjects. Special education students attending magnet schools outperform the average student receiving special education services in the state in math, while showing similar growth in reading. Special education students enrolled in district schools show stronger growth in math and similar growth in reading compared to the average special education student in the state.
Cross-sector comparisons within Baton Rouge shows that special education students in charter schools make similar gains in both subjects relative to the special education students in district schools. Special education students in magnet schools outperform district school special education students in math, while grow similarly in reading.
Gender:
Both male and female students in Baton Rouge overall post similar learning gains in reading and stronger learning gains in math than the average student of the same gender in the state.
Breakout analyses by sector suggest that male students in Baton Rouge charter schools grow on par with the average male student in the state in both subjects. Male students in Baton Rouge magnet schools register stronger reading and math growth when compared to the state average of male students. Male students enrolled in district schools post similar growth than state average of male students in both subjects. Within Baton Rouge, male students in charter schools exhibit similar growth in both subjects compared to male students at district schools. Baton Rouge magnet male students exhibit stronger growth in both subjects compared to male students at district schools.
Female students enrolled in Baton Rouge charter schools make greater learning gains in math, while grow similarly in reading compared to the average female student in the state. Female students in magnet schools in Baton Rouge outperform the average female student in the state in both reading and math. Female students in district schools in Baton Rouge grow on par with the average female student in the state in reading or math. Comparisons of sectors within Baton Rouge reveal stronger growth in both subject among female students at magnet schools when they are compared to average female student in district schools in Baton Rouge. Female students enrolled in charter schools show stronger gains in math only compare to their counterparts in district school.
Presentation of Findings