Boston Globe Reports on “Southern Surge,” Highlighting NIET’s Role in Supporting Louisiana Student Achievement Growth

Read the full Boston Globe article here.

A recent feature by The Boston Globe highlights a “Southern Surge” in student achievement growth, including southern states historically considered academic underperformers, who have the highest growth levels in the country in reading and math outcomes:

“On the 2024 NAEP tests, only two states scored significantly higher in any test than they had in 2019: Alabama in math, and Louisiana in both math and reading.”

An example of this southern success story is NIET partner Natchitoches Parish School District, led by Superintendent Grant Eloi, which the Globe recognized for its record-setting growth. 

“In the last five years, Natchitoches schools have shown incredible growth, obtaining their highest scores ever in grades 3 through 8 reading and math. While most of the nation’s education was cratering during COVID-19, according to an analysis from researchers at Harvard and Stanford, Natchitoches’ students gained more than a grade level in reading from 2019 to 2024.”

Natchitoches implemented NIET’s TAP System, a comprehensive system for improving classroom instruction and student learning outcomes. The article describes the TAP System strategies Natchitoches uses to build teacher leadership and provide sustained professional learning, including weekly teacher collaboration meetings known as “cluster meetings” and teacher leadership roles.

“The cluster meetings and master teachers are all part of a new model Eloi installed, the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching’s TAP System. The program, which also includes incentive pay for teachers who produce strong growth, was previously used to great success by Louisiana state superintendent Cade Brumley when he led nearby DeSoto Parish in the 2010s.”

The impact has been significant and sustained, as the Globe explains through the experience of M.R. Weaver Elementary School Principal Armetrice Williams. 

“Weaver’s Principal Armetrice Williams was named a Louisiana Principal of the Year honoree last year for the school’s rapid growth since she took over in 2020. Reading scores have improved dramatically, and the school’s state accountability rating has increased from an F to a C. The mindset has changed, Williams explains. ‘Teachers can’t say what [the students] can’t do,’ Williams says. ‘That’s not an option here.’”

The article quotes Superintendent Eloi summing up the district’s approach. 

“It’s more cost-effective and easier to improve the quality of the folks you have,’ Eloi says.”

NIET’s Work in Louisiana

NIET’s work with district partners in Louisiana is helping to drive strong student learning gains, including in districts which historically have struggled to improve. Successful strategies include strengthening classroom instruction and mentoring through teacher leadership roles, the use of research-based instructional rubrics to inform feedback for improvement, and the development of instructional leadership teams that support principals to extend and improve coaching.