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Superintendent Search Continues

Orleans Parish School Board considers former Jefferson Parish, Memphis superintendents for top job
The Orleans Parish School Board is meeting Thursday to interview three new, more experienced candidates for superintendent. The additional finalists are: Kriner Cash, the former superintendent in Memphis, Veronica Conforme, the former chief operating officer of New York City schools, and Diane Roussel McDonald, the former superintendent in Jefferson Parish.

Student Voices

Time magazine recently published opinion pieces from two New Orleans high school students on its website. In Teach For America Deserves Credit for Improving New Orleans Schools, Brianisha Frith, a junior at KIPP Renaissance High School, writes about the TFA teachers that inspired her and held her to a very high standard. “Their drive to educate every single child is refreshing and dignifying,” she says. In New Orleans Charter Schools Shouldn’t Treat Students Like Prisoners, Kenyatta Collins, a junior at Lake Area New Tech High School, describes her experiences with very strict discipline policies. She says the discipline at her school focuses too much on behavior rather than academic performance. Both essays are part of a collaboration between The Hechinger Report and high school students at Bard’s Early College in New Orleans. Editor’s note: Hats off to Bard’s Early College Program. These are two very well written essays!

Group Alleges Unequal Treatment in New Orleans

Civil rights complaint alleges unequal treatment for New Orleans’ black public school students
A federal civil rights complaint alleges that the RSD has disproportionately closed schools attended by African-American students and that these actions are hurting African-American students and community members. The complaint aims to stop the closure of the five remaining RSD direct-run schools and demands a moratorium on charter school renewals. Superintendent John White says, “The report, from a factual perspective, is a joke” and part of a politically coordinated national campaign. RSD Superintendent Patrick Dobard pointed out that the improved academic achievement of RSD schools has in fact increased the civil rights of children to learn.

Louisiana Headlines

Gov. Jindal still playing a hand in Common Core
This article provides a good summary of where Louisiana and its legislature now stand on Common Core and PARCC. With just two weeks left in the 2014 legislative session, the major bills that would undo or revamp Common Core, and the tests that go with it, appear to be dead. Governor Jindal says he may be able order the state out of the PARCC tests if the legislature fails to act, but others believe Jindal doesn’t have the power to act unilaterally on this issue.

Bill would allow students to switch schools
A bill nearing final legislative passage would allow students at poor-performing public schools to step outside their neighborhood or district boundaries and switch to higher-performing schools. If a student were assigned to a D or F school, parents would be able to enroll that child in any A, B, or C school regardless of their residence, school system, or attendance zones, so long as that school has the space to take the student.

Louisiana follows experts’ tips to prevent, detect standardized test cheating
The Lens reviewed the Department of Education’s testing procedures and implementation and found that Louisiana is following best practices in preventing, detecting, and responding to cheating on standardized tests. The state’s procedures are in line with most of the expert’s recommendations, although Louisiana does fall short in some ways when it comes to online testing security.

Lawmakers revamp Louisiana career-track diploma
Louisiana’s career-track diploma law has been rewritten, and, if approved by the governor, will require high school students to get an industry-based certification or earn credentials through dual-enrollment at a technical school or community college in order to graduate. All districts will have to make the changes by the 2016-17 school year, and the first students to receive the new diploma will graduate in 2018.

Ollie Tyler to announce mayoral run
Ollie Tyler announced that she is running for mayor of Shreveport. Tyler was the first woman and first African-American to serve as Superintendent of Caddo Schools. She also served as State Superintendent of Education after Paul Pastorek left in 2011. Editor’s Note: Ms. Tyler served as deputy superintendent/chief academic officer with Colonel Davis and was the interim superintendent of Orleans Parish schools in 2002.

National Stories

Charters, Public Schools and a Chasm Between
A primary reason for the creation of charter schools was to test new practices that could be exported into the traditional school system. After two decades, educators from both systems concede that very little of what has worked for charters has found its way into regular classrooms.

Study: New Leaders-Trained Principals Boost Student Scores in Some Schools
An analysis of the New Leaders Aspiring Principal program found that students who attended schools led by New Leaders-trained principals had slightly higher achievement scores than similar students in schools not headed by New Leaders principals. The districts that saw the strongest positive effects from the program had principals who reported below-average levels of autonomy. The study looked at data from approximately 400 New Leaders principals serving 160,000 students. The results in New Orleans were mixed.

Evaluating Teachers with Classroom Observations: Lessons Learned in Four Districts
A new report from Brookings looks at teacher-evaluation systems in four moderate-sized urban districts and finds that teachers who have initially lower-performing students receive lower observation scores than teachers who have initially higher-performing students. The report recommends that observation scores be adjusted based on student demographics, similar to how many value-added scores are adjusted. It also recommends scrapping the practice of including overall school performance as part of teachers’ evaluations, saying it unfairly penalizes even the best teachers in low-performing schools.

Other Local News

Ben Franklin becomes 2nd N.O. charter with a union
Benjamin Franklin High School is now the second charter school in New Orleans to formally recognize a teachers’ union. The other school is Morris Jeff Community School.

State investigation of N.O.’s Collegiate Academies charters on hold pending further documentation
The state’s investigation of the civil rights complaint against Collegiate Academies has been put on hold pending “legally sufficient” documentation. Collegiate says the delay shows the complaint failed to provide sufficient evidence and did not identify applicable laws.

Technology learning poised to take off in New Orleans public schools
More and more New Orleans public schools are making computers not just a testing tool but a central part of year-round education. Computers have been in classrooms for years, and new online test requirements are spurring tech innovation at some schools, but blended learning is not just about technology. It’s part of a national trend where teaching is tailored to students so that children can learn at their own pace.

Shout Out!

Trombone Shorty, N.O. students perform at White House
Congratulations to the students from ReNEW Cultural Arts Academy, who joined Trombone Shorty in a performance at the White House. The event was to announce the expansion of the Turnaround: Arts initiative, a program aimed at enhancing arts programs in high-poverty schools. The initiative is expanding into six states and three more schools in Louisiana, including Homer A. Plessey in New Orleans.