The student performance data collected for the profile includes a summary of students’ performance on district, state, and national level assessments. Data has been collected and analyzed for the ITED, GEE, PLAN, and ACT beginning with the 2000-2001 school year. Data has also been included for the College Board Advanced Placement exams.The Louisiana Department of Education began issuing School Performance Scores (SPS) to high schools in August of 2001. These scores, which are part of the School

Accountability System, are based on the test scores and attendance and dropout rates of students in grades nine through twelve. The 2001 state SPS average for high schools was 70.6. The state’s 10-year goal is an SPS of 100. Under the Accountability System, schools performing below 100 get ten years, broken into five two-year intervals, to reach a score of 100. At the beginning of each cycle, each school receives a “growth target,” which tells how much the school has to grow by the end of the cycle to stay on target for reaching the state’s 10-year goal.

High School Performance Scores are based on how students do on two tests — the GEE 21 and the ITED — plus attendance and dropout rates. Schools are given one of the following six performance labels: “Academically Unacceptable,” “Academically Below the State Average,” “Academically Above the State Average,” “School of Academic Achievement,” “School of Distinction,” or “School of Academic Excellence.” The state has set a 10-year goal for all public schools to achieve a score of 100. The state’s 20-year goal is for all public schools to achieve a score of 150.

For the school year 2000-2001, Benton High School received a baseline SPS of 101.7 and the performance label of School of Academic Achievement. The state average was 75.9. Benton High’s goal for 2002-2003 was 106.7 with a growth target of 5.0. In the school year 2001-2002, BentonHigh School received an SPS score of 98.1, which was a decrease of 3.6. The state average was 75.7. Benton’s goal for 2003 was set at 106.7. In 2002-2003, the two-year cycle was replaced by a one-year cycle. Benton’s current baseline SPS for 2001-2003 is 100.9. The state average is 79.2. Our goal for 2003-2004 was 102.9, and our growth target was 2.0. Our SPS score for 2003-2004 was 104.8 which was an increase of 3.9. The state average was 82.9. Our new SPS goal for 2004-2005 is 106.8 with a target growth of 2.0.