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
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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
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Policy Guidance
State Advisory Groups
The LDOE facilitates over a dozen councils, committees, task forces, and other groups.
Addition Brings Total Number of Ready Start Networks to 26 Statewide
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) this week approved 13 additional communities to pilot local strategies to increase access to and improve the quality of publicly-funded early childhood care and education. The action follows legislation passed in 2018 that allowed BESE to create and fund the pilot programs, which can now be found in 26 communities statewide.
These community-based pilot programs, called Ready Start Networks, are coalitions of individuals committed to creating and implementing a bold local vision for early childhood education. They will spend two years developing new local governance structures; assessing local demand for early care and education; providing resources and training to teachers to improve classroom quality; implementing fundraising strategies; and sharing their findings with state leaders to inform future policymaking.
The work will be guided by early childhood lead agencies in Allen, Assumption, Caddo, Caldwell, Lincoln, Sabine, St. Charles, St. Landry, St. Martin, Tangipahoa, Vermilion, Webster and West Baton Rouge parishes.
These communities join the initial seven Ready Start Networks approved in January 2019 and the additional six approved in August 2019.
"Early childhood is the greatest educational challenge we face as a nation," said State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley. "I applaud our BESE members for helping ensure more children enter school kindergarten ready."
The Evolution of Community Networks
Prior to the passage of Act 3 in 2012, Louisiana had no statewide unified system of early childhood care and education. In 2013, the state introduced the early childhood community network model that is now in place. This model started with 13 pilot programs and expanded statewide by 2015.
Today, Louisiana has 66 early childhood community networks. Each network is led by a "lead agency," a state-approved entity, such as a school system or organization that serves as the point of contact for local care providers and as the liaison with the state education department. Currently, lead agencies serve a primarily administrative role, overseeing data collection and reporting, ensuring the observations that inform annual performance profiles are conducted twice a year, and coordinating enrollment..
The Next Phase of Local Responsibility
The Ready Start Network pilots represent the state's next phase of supporting local responsibility, taking a more collaborative approach to decision-making by establishing formal governance structures that support all early childhood care and education efforts in a community. Moreover, the pilot networks will be charged with fundraising to satisfy the local demand for seats and for implementing the supports and resources necessary to improve the quality of local sites.
The Louisiana Department of Education will work closely to support and guide the progress of the Ready Start Networks by offering expert resources, on-demand consultation and technical assistance, site visits, webinars and communication support.
Ready Start Networks will report updates to the state education department throughout the course of the pilot. Over time, these findings will be publicly shared.
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