Louisiana House committee shoots down proposal for high school graduation appeals process

Louisiana’s House Education Committee shot down a proposal for a graduation appeals process that would allow some students who failed to score high enough on standardized tests to submit a portfolio instead.

The committee heard comments from several Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education members and Louisiana Education Superintendent Cade Brumley during a “unique situation” that saw the two bodies on opposite sides of the issue. The committee voted 8-3 to reject the proposal.

The policy was proposed by BESE in June, but LDOE has been firmly opposed to the process. In a letter to BESE ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Brumley called for the board to abandon the proposal.

“My signature on every high school diploma affirms a graduate’s readiness for work or higher education; this policy endangers that promise and diminishes the value of Louisiana diplomas for past, present and future graduates,” Brumley said in a statement released before the hearing. "The graduation appeals policy is bad for Louisiana. At its core, it signals that our educational system is incapable of providing – and students are unable to attain – a minimum standard of proficiency in required subjects. We should continue the exploration and expansion of academic and support options for students, not impose a government-sanctioned excuse for mediocrity.”

Holly Boffy, BESE’s president and the principal of a school in Lafayette Parish, represented BESE for much of the hearing and argued in favor of the proposal. She said Louisiana has an overreliance on standardized testing, being one of only eight states that requires a standardized test for graduation. Of those states, Louisiana is the only one without an appeals process.

Boffy said one of her goals during Thursday’s meeting was to potentially find allies to champion a potential change during the next legislative session.

“We want to hold the bar the entire time,” Boffy said. “What this process does is give students an alternate way to reach the bar.”

Rep. Lance Harris, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee, said it was a “unique situation” in that BESE and LDOE had differing views on the process. Harris, who was recently elected to BESE, allowed BESE members and LDOE representatives to speak on the proposed process.

Harris, who argued against the process at a BESE hearing, said there’s a potential that if the process were to be approved now, a new BESE and a new governor — governor-elect Jeff Landry submitted a letter opposing the process — may overturn the rule in a couple months, which could cause confusion.

“What kind of confusion does that cause our school systems and our local principals and superintendents?” Harris said.

In his letter to BESE, Brumley said the process was borne out of an effort to improve graduation rates for English learners. In April, BESE directed LDOE to create a task force to study the challenges for English learners and to develop a statewide plan for English learner education. But BESE also directed LDOE to draft a policy to create a graduation appeals process for all Louisiana students, but LDOE declined to participate, Brumley wrote.

Despite those objections, Brumley wrote, BESE decided to move forward with the proposal in June. The proposal would create an appeals process allowing some students who were not able to graduate on time due to not getting a passing score on a required assessment to complete a portfolio to receive a high school diploma.

To be eligible for an appeal, the student must have earned all Carnegie units for a Louisiana standard diploma and must have reached the minimum score on the ACT WorkKeys assessment, be eligible for a TOPS Tech award, or have earned an industry-based credential.

During a hearing in August, there were some public comments in favor of the proposal. Members of the public argued that other states also have appeals processes for graduation, it would be beneficial for English learners and that it would allow students to focus on other pursuits, like workforce training.

Others also raised issues with standardized testing being unfair for minority students due to the potential for bias, a lack of relatability to the material and potential discrimination. The National Education Association wrote in 2021 that “decades of research demonstrate that Black, Latin(o/a/x), and Native students, as well as students from some Asian groups, experience bias from standardized tests administered from early childhood through college.”

Those against the proposed process have argued that it weakens the value of Louisiana’s high school diplomas, as well as increases the chances of negative outcomes for students after high school. There were also concerns about the implementation of the process and the burden being placed on the districts and postsecondary schools.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana spoke against the process on the Senate floor Oct. 18, calling the plan “a massive step back.”

“The people behind this ought to hide their heads in a bag,” Kennedy said. “Our kids are better than that. Every one of my kids in Louisiana can learn. Sometimes they need a little bit longer, but it’s not going to do them any good to give them a diploma that they can’t read.”

Several of the educators who spoke in favor of the proposal referred to the legislature’s support of the April Dunn Act, which allowed students with disabilities to show their mastery of Louisiana’s standards through a portfolio in a similar manner to BESE’s proposal. They argued that criticizing the proposed plan as “watering down” the standards shows they do not put much value on the degrees students with disabilities earned with their portfolios.

Some students — many who were English learners — also spoke in favor of the proposal, saying it was unfair to have them take a test in English when they haven’t had enough time to learn the language.

A few of the educators who testified said that the portfolio standard implemented under the April Dunn Act is more rigorous and a more fair standard than the LEAP assessment.

“When the experts and lawmakers play this waiting game, we leave our students behind,” said Erin Atkins, the assistant principal for Acadiana High School in Lafayette Parish. “They move on with their lives with limited opportunities instead of being given an opportunity to engage in the appeals process and potentially graduate and become contributing members in our state.

“Why does Louisiana always have to be last?” Atkins said. “If every other state has figured out an alternative means to a required assessment that it in the best interest of their students, why are we not doing the same that’s in the best interest of students in Louisiana?”

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana committee votes no on graduation appeals process