Project: Sustaining and Progressing Louisiana’s Literacy Strategic Plan
The Louisiana Department of Education is implementing a Comprehensive Literacy State Development program to advance the literacy skills of children from birth to grade 12 through the use of evidence-based practices, activities, and interventions.
The Need
For the second consecutive year, Louisiana students progressed on the state assessments that measure proficiency in English Language Arts, showing a two-point jump in the percentage of students considered proficient and 75 percent of school systems showing improvement from 2021-22 to 2022-23. Louisiana’s 4th graders led the nation in reading growth for the second consecutive cycle of the Nation’s Report Card (2022 and 2024), moving from 42nd to 16th. These and other recent student achievement gains in literacy are promising, and practices to sustain and accelerate progress have been essential in developing programs and resources.
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) is maximizing use of state and federal funds to address low literacy rates across the state by increasing access to high-quality instructional materials and training regarding literacy instruction for educators. The LDOE aims to improve the abilities of teams, individuals, and systems to better manage and oversee the effectiveness of state and federally funded projects.
Our Approach
Team Development
The LDOE literacy team worked with the Southwest Comprehensive Center (formerly the Region 14 Comprehensive Center 2019-2024) to assess team, department, and system-specific management and oversight needs. Southwest Comprehensive Center (Southwest CC) worked with the team on options for managing and overseeing the implementation of the statewide literacy plan, including a site visit to observe the day-to-day processes.
In collaboration with the LDOE, Southwest CC supported the 2022 and 2023 Teacher Leader Summit; created a system to evaluate, monitor, and help school-level literacy plans; and built a sustainability plan for the Literacy Initiatives. The LDOE developed a presentation addressing all legislation supporting the new Literacy Initiatives and provided optional direct coaching to literacy team staff. The LDOE also invested in internal development through a team retreat to identify key takeaways and areas where Southwest CC could assist with follow-up coaching as needed.
Supporting Vendors
Informed by findings from interviews and focus groups, Southwest CC helped design a Request for Application (RFA) for vendor support by creating multiple analysis tools. These tools resulted in the release of an RFA for vendors. Once selected, Southwest CC supported onboarding, communications, monitoring, and continuous improvement systems to ensure successful implementation.
Celebrating and Amplifying Promising Practices
LDOE is spotlighting promising local education agencies’ (LEAs’) literacy practices as they implement literacy plans, including ways for LEAs to request additional professional development and operational or policy support from the literacy team. Southwest CC determined the need for a rubric to evaluate LEA literacy plans to support feedback and to identify the LEAs that could benefit from additional support.
Southwest CC recruited 12 educators to serve as reviewers to help improve LEA’s literacy plans. Southwest CC and partners at the University of Houston completed the contracting process for each reviewer to align perspectives on the components of high-quality school literacy plans to ensure reviewers could provide meaningful feedback for schools.
Advancing Forward
Southwest CC’s ongoing support of the literacy team focuses on their approach to progress monitoring of grant-funded interventions. A long-term operational plan, including expansion of the state literacy team with a focus on relationships, process, production, and intended outcomes, is in development. Additional support will be provided for annual reporting and responses to state policy developments.
Disclaimer: This content was developed during the 2019-2024 cohort of the Comprehensive Centers Program as the Region 14 Comprehensive Center (now the Southwest Comprehensive Center 2024-2029). We are proud to continue service in our region as the Southwest Comprehensive Center, supporting educational outcomes in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
