Welcome to the Louisiana Department of Education
About the Louisiana Department of Education
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) provides guidance and support to all publicly funded early childhood centers and elementary and secondary schools in Louisiana. Specifically, the department provides tools and resources to schools and school systems to support classroom instruction, assessments, workforce development and college and career preparation. Additionally, the department provides families and the public with transparent reporting of center, school, and school system performance and quality through the Louisiana School Finder.
To stay connected with the LDOE and receive updates on our work and our resources, visit our newsroom and our newsletter subscriptions page.
Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)
The LDOE is the administrative arm of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). BESE was established by the 1974 Louisiana Constitution. The Board is composed of 11 members: eight elected by the citizens of Louisiana’s eight BESE districts, and three appointed by the governor of Louisiana to represent the state at-large. Together, these members adopt and enact policies governing the elementary and secondary schools of Louisiana.
Louisiana's Education Priorities
Louisiana's education priorities maintain a clear focus on what matters most for academic achievement.
- Early childhood leading to kindergarten readiness
- Literacy instruction aligned to the Science of Reading
- Math instruction from foundational to advanced skills
- Opportunities ensuring a meaningful high school experience
- An effective teacher for every student
- Expand educational choice for students and families
Request Information
If you have questions, including public records requests, questions about licensure, or other types of inquiries, please see our contact us page.
Louisiana State Superintendent
Dr. Cade Brumley
Dr. Brumley is a Louisiana native who has dedicated his career to serving children, parents, and educators.
Back to the Basics
Louisiana's Education Priorities
From being ready to learn on the first day of kindergarten to thriving in a career, college
Employment Opportunities
Careers at LDOE
Join the Louisiana Department of Education as we strive for excellence.
Policy Guidance
State Advisory Groups
The LDOE facilitates over a dozen councils, committees, task forces, and other groups.
Resources support high-quality instruction across virtual, hybrid and traditional learning scenarios
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Department of Education has released Strong Start 2020: Guidance to Support English Learners to help school systems ensure that English Learners (ELs) continue to have equitable access to high-quality instruction across virtual, hybrid and traditional learning scenarios. Throughout the summer, the LDOE has regularly updated a suite of resources to help ensure a strong start to the school year. The Department's latest resource will help schools serve students who speak a language other than English.
"Every child deserves access to a quality education," said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. "The pandemic created additional challenges in how we serve our English Learners, and these resources will provide guidance and support to our educators as they serve children and their families."
The Department developed this resource alongside teachers, system leaders and stakeholder organizations. It will prompt a high bar of excellence for educators and students.
Some of the guidance includes:
- Identifying newly enrolled English Learners
- Communicating with families
- Preparing for supporting English Learner instruction
- Delivering supportive English Learner instruction in multiple settings
- Providing English Learner accommodations
- Frequently asked questions
English Learners come from diverse backgrounds, both culturally and linguistically. They bring to their learning a vast set of experiences and knowledge-base as they engage in the learning process in a new language. Louisiana believes ELs, like all other students, can achieve academic success through a clear and concise alignment of quality standards, instructional programs and resources, professional development and assessments. ELs comprise approximately 4 percent of all public school students in Louisiana.
EL supervisors across the state are coming together for the LDOE's EL Community of Practice virtual series. This series places school systems into cohorts based on the size of their EL population and gives them an opportunity to discuss best practices and areas of concerns all while receiving guidance from the Department on a specific topic. This month's focus area was on using the EL Coach to support ELs across all learning scenarios.
The Department has created a library of resources to support ELs. Questions and concerns can be sent to alice.garcia@la.gov.
The Louisiana Department of Education is supporting systems and schools for the 2020-2021 school year through the Strong Start 2020 initiative. The Department has released virtual learning guides for families and educators. It recently updated its comprehensive suite of resources for students with disabilities. The Department created a toolkit to provide systems and schools with resources, examples and support as they implement their reopening plan. The Department released school reopening guidelines and resources in June.
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