Louisiana students made gains or held steady on most state LEAP tests this year, a sign that Louisiana has sustained its nation-leading recovery from pandemic learning loss.
Students in grades 3-8 grew in math, science and social studies, while achievement was flat in English, according to LEAP results released Monday. High schoolers improved or held their ground in every subject except English I, where the share of students hitting the state target dipped slightly.
Search for each school’s scores here.
The annual tests, which are required by federal law, measure students’ grasp of content the state expects them to learn by the end of each grade. The scores weigh heavily in school ratings, teacher evaluations and high school graduation requirements.
Across all tested grades and subjects, 36% of students met or exceeded state expectations in 2026, the highest rate on record, according to the state Department of Education. The latest scores follow a recent study that found Louisiana students have outpaced their peers in most states in reading and math growth since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and disrupted learning, causing test scores nationwide to plummet.
“I’m proud of our progress,” said state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley. “For us to be a state that is looked at across the country for making gains is just so positive.”
Still, the tests students took this spring raise some concerns.
English scores have stayed the same for the past three years, suggesting that students’ rapid recovery from pandemic learning declines has leveled out. Math scores continue to grow, yet about two-thirds of students still fall short of state expectations. And the score gaps between students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds remain about as wide now as they were before the pandemic.
“While we’re pleased that the net results are positive and trending upward, I think we should be expecting more,” said Erin Bendily, senior vice president at the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, a conservative Louisiana think tank, and a former state education official.
What the scores show
In English language arts, 43% of students in grades 3-8 scored at the “mastery” level or above, indicating they are ready to move to the next grade level. The rate was the same in 2025 and 2024.
In math, 34% hit that mark, as did 31% in science and 33% in social studies. In math, this year’s mastery or above rate was one percentage point higher than last year’s, and in the other subjects it was two points higher.
In high school, most students must pass at least one English, math and biology or civics test pass to graduate. In all subjects combined, 36% achieved mastery or above — two percentage points above last year.
Louisiana students’ rebound from COVID-era learning disruptions has been the envy of the nation. It’s the only state where students now are reading above 2019 levels, and one of only two where math scores have surpassed pre-COVID levels, according to a recent analysis of state test scores by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth.
But while math scores continue to climb, they have plateaued in reading, the latest LEAP scores show.
Brumley noted that only third graders saw a decline in English mastery this year; the other grades were flat or grew slightly. He said that third graders’ scores could reflect the shift from an intense focus in the early grades on learning to sound out words, a phonics-based approach known as the “science of reading,” to an emphasis in the later grades on reading comprehension.
The LEAP English test “doesn’t perfectly align with our focus around teaching kids to read in those early grades,” Brumley said, adding that the test eventually will be updated to incorporate more phonics.
He pointed out that on a different test called DIBELS, which assesses students’ basic reading skills, 64% of third graders met or exceeded the benchmark this year — 2 percentage points higher than in 2025.
Student groups who have traditionally scored below their peers grew or held steady this year, including Black and Hispanic students, students with disabilities, those still learning English and students from low-income families.
However, the gaps between those groups and other students remain stubbornly large. For example, 22% of Black students and 29% of Hispanic students met state expectations on the grades 3-8 tests this year, compared with 49% of White students — a chasm that was similarly wide in 2019.
“The gaps still remain,” Bendily said. “So obviously, there’s work still left to do.”
What’s working
Several state policies have likely contributed to Louisiana students’ academic gains, state officials and experts say.
Teachers were trained in the science of reading, which is backed by extensive research, and schools began assessing young students’ reading skills. Schools also were required to provide tutoring to struggling students, and a revamped rating system rewards schools that help students improve their scores.
Other states have adopted similar policies, including phonics-based reading instruction, yet they have not made similar academic gains.
“What we’ve done differently here in Louisiana that we’ve seen drive the results is the mixture of accountability and support,” said Jenna Chiasson, the Louisiana Department of Education’s deputy superintendent of teaching and learning. “I have a numeracy team and a literacy team who is out in schools and school systems pretty much every day providing training, providing support.”
In Vermillion Parish, 55% of students in grades 3-8 met state expectations in reading and 50% did so in math, making it one of the school systems with the highest mastery rates and biggest year-over-year gains. Superintendent Thomas Byler said multiple strategies boosted the scores, including building time into math and English class for struggling students to get extra help and hiring retired teachers to work as tutors.
“It’s really nice when the data support some of the decisions you make,” he said.
DeSoto Parish, where 54% of students achieved mastery in English and 47% did in math, was another top-achieving and top-growing school district. The results owe mainly to the hard work of educators and their desire to keep improving, said Superintendent Clay Corley.
“We’ve stopped asking what program to try or what strategy to use,” he said. “We really just continue to ask ourselves, ‘How do we get a little better every single day?’”