VIDALIA — The Concordia Parish School District is maintaining a “C” average, though its overall score has improved.

The Louisiana Department of Education released its annual school and school district report cards Thursday, and the CPSD maintained the same letter rating — which operates on the familiar school scale of A through F — as it did the previous year.

The district score for 2014-2015 — based on how students perform on state assessments, their preparation for college and career success, and graduation rates, among other things — was 77, up from the previous year’s score of 72.1.

“We are pretty happy,” Superintendent Paul Nelson said. “Our district report grew by nearly five points, while the average district in Northeast Louisiana is going to drop by 2.3 points.”

The district average is based on individual school grades. Those break down as follows:

-Ferriday High School, D, 65.1 points

-Ferriday Junior High, D, 52.7 points

-Ferriday Upper Elementary, F, 40.9 points

-Ferriday Lower Elementary, F, 40.9 points

-Monterey High School, A, 112.1 points

-Vidalia High School, B, 98.3 points

-Vidalia Junior High, B, 88.6 points

-Vidalia Upper Elementary, C, 82.4 points

-Vidalia Lower Elementary, C, 82.4 points

-Concordia Education Center, F, 19.9 points

Comparing the school scores year to year can be difficult, Nelson said, because the state-mandated tests have changed five times in five years.

“With all the changes in the test and the curriculum, all these things represent a lot of challenges for schools, a lot of moving parts in this process,” he said. “It really makes it a challenge for schools when you have changes in the curriculum and the assessment, and you are trying to match things up, and in some instances we were getting changes on an almost monthly basis.”

The state department of education has said the 2015 and 2016 school years will serve as the baseline for future report cards.

Director of Secondary Education Rhonda Wilson said the district can expect scores to grow in coming years as the new standards are implemented.

“As those children who are starting out with the new standards progress through the grades, we expect our math scores to increase and improve, because those kids would have had those standards from the beginning,” she said.

“Those middle grades, where the standards were put in place midway through (their education), those years are more difficult because there are going to be some things we are having to go back and bridge the gap between the old and new standards.”

Even though the changing standards aren’t comparing apples to apples, the three biggest growth schools were Vidalia High School, which gained 11.4 points; Vidalia Junior High, which gained 10.2; and Ferriday Junior High, which gained 5.8.

The gains at the junior high schools are attributable to programs implemented for intervention and remediation in reading and math skills, which earned the school bonus points, Nelson said.

“You have a lot of students that need assistance with reading in particular, that is a big challenge for junior high schools,” he said. “Most students establish foundation in reading by third grade, and those who don’t have kind of given up on the idea of reading by the seventh grade because they don’t do it well. They were able to get kids to buy in to the idea that this is what we need to do for long-term success, and you see that reflected.”

Vidalia’s growth was reflective of an increase in overall ACT scores and what is known as “strength of diploma,” which means more students are taking advanced placement and dual enrollment classes.

“In Concordia Parish we are at 32 percent dual enrollment, which we think is a win-win for students and their families, because parents are able to realize some savings down the road,” Nelson said. “When you have students graduating with 12 to 18 to 21 hours of college credit, that ends up being a significant financial windfall for parents, but it also helps the school and is a benefit for students as well.”

Being able to grow when other districts are declining is a benefit is part of a collaborative effort, Nelson said.

“We are very fortunate to have many, many students and parents in our community who are concerned about those tests,” he said.