By T. Scott Boatright
As Lincoln Parish Schools prepare for the start of the new academic year next week, the Lincoln Parish School Board focused on district proficiency scores as the LPSB held its August 2026 meeting Tuesday night at the Central Schools office.
Superintendent John Young outlined the goals he and the School Board have set for the 2026-27 academic year, which will officially start when students attend their first day of classes on Aug. 14.
“During last month’s (School Board) meeting, I gave a brief snapshot of our (2025-26) LEAP performance, and as of right now we only have our achieved component back. We get our THRIVE components in the fall, and you will get a full presentation from all three levels.”
Schools in Louisiana use the “Grow. Achieve. Thrive.” accountability system, which is a student-centered model that simplifies how school performance is measured and focuses on growth, achievement and readiness for life after graduation.
Young said that in LEAP scores for Lincoln Parish students in grades 3-8 last school year, 44% of parish students showed proficiency in math, social studies and science, up 3 percentage points from the previous academic year and 9 percentage points higher than the state average. Students in grades 3-12, measured in subjects such as English II, biology and geometry, also showed a 44% proficiency rate, up 2 percentage points from the previous school year and still 8 percentage points above the state average proficiency rate of 36%.
Also discussed by Young were DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) score goals for kindergarten through eighth-grade students for the upcoming school year.
The Louisiana Department of Education uses mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition, an integrated literacy system based on the Science of Reading, as the state’s K-3 literacy assessment. mCLASS has been customized to meet the needs of Louisiana based on the latest research and the Science of Reading.
Young said that from the beginning of last school year for those students, the state began the year with a 49.7% proficiency rate that increased to 66.2% by the end of the academic year, an increase of 16.5 percentage points, while Lincoln Parish students jumped from 50.4% at the start of the year to a year-ending 71.6%, an increase of 21.2 percentage points.
Kindergartners in Louisiana overall showed a 39.9 percentage-point jump from the start of the school year, while Lincoln Parish students increased 49.5 percentage points.
That was the biggest jump, but Lincoln Parish first-graders increased 15.6 percentage points, slightly under the state’s 16.1 percentage-point jump from the start to the finish of the 2025-26 academic year.
Lincoln Parish’s second- and third-graders fared better than the state averages, with second-graders showing a 9.6 percentage-point increase compared to 6.4 percentage points for the state, while local third-graders showed a 5.7 percentage-point jump compared to 5 percentage points statewide.
Young said parish goals for the 2026-27 academic year are to increase LEAP proficiency from 44% to 46% and DIBELS proficiency from 71.6% to 75%.
Lincoln Parish Schools’ goals for the upcoming school year include increasing the percentage of parish students achieving Mastery level or above in all LEAP grades from 44% to 55%, increasing students achieving Mastery or above in ELA for grades 3-12 from 44% to 50%, increasing parish students achieving Mastery or above in math for grades 3-12 from 44% to 55%, increasing students with disabilities earning Mastery or above in grades 3-12 from 11% to 21%, and increasing the percentage of students scoring 20 or better on the ACT from 46% to 55%.
Young said increased attendance is another goal for parish schools in 2026-27.
“Attendance is something my Superintendent’s Advisory Council is going to address,” Young said. “I spoke at Coach (Wilbert) Ellis’ baseball camp a couple of weeks ago. One thing I talked about was attendance, and that’s making sure a parent is doing everything they can to make sure their students get up and get to school. We have our own truancy department, and we got a grant to help us with that.
“But as far as being proactive, we have to work with the community to try and find ways to do that. Obviously what’s best for a student is to be at school learning. But everybody has to understand it’s a partnership. We have to look at ways and avenues to help parents get them to school. Last report we had 94.7% attendance. We need to be upwards of 97-98%. It’s a goal I think we can hit, but it’s tough to get 98% of your kids at school every day.”
One plan Young said is being discussed is what he termed “a friendly competition” between parish schools concerning attendance levels.
“We don’t want to pit schools against each other, but that’s my plan — to have a weekly attendance report and the winning school gets some kind of prize,” Young said. “Or maybe it’s a monthly prize. If we can get to 96-97%, maybe somebody will donate a prize. But increasing attendance has to be a focus.”
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