You can fall in love with a house anywhere the greater Baton Rouge area, but when you finally make the move, the house located where the schools are the best is where you put down your money.  That's why the latest report from the Louisiana Department of Education is great information for people looking to settle in the East Baton Rouge-Ascension Parish region.  You don't even necessary have to go the most expensive area to find a home either, as great valued are available whatever your price range..

With a goal of 100% accountability in important measures of student performance, several area school districts exceed that goal for 2009.  These include:

Zachary Community School District (116.8)

Zachary, LA in East Baton Rouge Parish has been the top performing district in Louisiana for the past five years.  Fourteen miles north of Baton Rouge and 80 miles northwest of New Orleans, Zachary is a small town with a high percentage of college graduates. 

West Feliciana Parish (110.9)

St. Francisville, LA in West Feliciana Parish has second highest top scores. The town of 1,600 people is located 30 miles northwest of Baton Rouge and about 100 miles northwest of New Orleans.

St. Tammany Parish (109.6)

Slidell, LA, roughly 30 miles north of New Orleans, is the main city in St. Tammany Parish.  The schools are top notch, offering Advanced Placement and Honors classes at all schools.

Ascension Parish (105.9)

One of the fastest growing parishes I Louisiana, Ascension Parish  reached its highest performance level ever and improved its scores by 6.1% district-wise for all schools

Overall scores for all districts is 91% this year.  This represents as 4.7% improvement since 2008 and a 22% increase since 1999, when performance levels stood at 86.3%.  At that time, the state fared poorly in comparison to other states to other states , so assessment measure were developed to be accomplished within 10 years.  The sate falls a little short of its goal, but the 16% increase in performance very encouraging.

According to State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, "This progress is a tribute to the administrators, teachers and students in our classrooms and represents the good work of many individuals and organizations over many years,"

"We are very pleased by these gains - among the highest we've seen in the history of accountability. And in comparison to the last several years, where for the most part we saw marginal gains, a gain of nearly 5 points reinforces our efforts and tells us that many superintendents are focusing on the right things and are moving in the right direction."

The scores are actually reflect several measures, depending on the grade level. For grades K-8, School Performance Scores (SPS) are calculated for K-8th grade schools using student test scores (90%) and attendance (10%). Schools with a 7th and 8th grade configuration receive a SPS based on attendance (5%), dropouts (5%) and student test scores (90%). High schools (grade 9-12) receive an SPS based on test scores (70%) and their graduation index (30%).

District Scores include student permanence on standardized tests (LEAP, iLEAP and GEE), along with as attendance, dropout and graduation outcomes - calculated using the same formula as School Performance Scores - but using only one year of data.

Over the past school year, 65% of student scored Basic or above on statewide -administered assessments as compared to 45 in 1999.  There is still a considerable gap of 23.4 points between races on the assessments, but the gap has narrowed by 10.3% in English and 9.8% in

In 2009, nearly 80% of schools showed gains in their scores, while 43% met their growth targets this year vs. only 25% last year.  Twenty eight percent of schools exceeded an SPS of 100; the percentage of schools with scores under 100 decreased from previous years. Additionally, the number of Academically Unacceptable Schools (AUS) fell from 90 to 55, or 4.3 percent.

Despite achievements, which have resulted in higher scores on college admission tests , Louisiana is committed to bringing all children up to basic and closing performance gaps between races.  For more information about Louisiana's education efforts, view the LDOE press release.

Now that the public school system in many parishes are proving  to be an even better  choice for buyers, finding a place where  achievement is high is one of the priorities while buying real estate in Louisiana.  Contact Sandy's Team  for the best properties in East Baton Rouge  and Ascension Parishes.