Judge Rules Against Jindal on Common Core
Common Core proponents scored a major victory today. A Baton Rouge judge found that Gov. Bobby Jindal caused “irreparable harm” to students and schools when he froze Louisiana’s testing vendor contract. The judge said the governor failed to produce any evidence that the Department of Education violated the law when it signed the contract, and he lifted the Jindal administration’s suspension of the contract. The lawsuit was brought by a group of parents, teachers, charter schools and BESE, who argued that the governor was illegally meddling in Common Core implementation. The governor plans to appeal the ruling, and he stated, “This judge is wrong on the facts and the law. Hopefully, he will reconsider this preliminary ruling at the full trial.”
What does this rulings mean? Superintendent John White says the court’s decision will allow schools to “continue their five-year transition to higher expectations.”
Earlier this week, another judge ruled against 17 Louisiana legislators who claimed the state Department of Education and BESE did not follow the law when adopting Common Core. The judge refused to issue a temporary injunction on Common Core implementation. While the legislators can still file for a permanent injunction, the same judge would hear their request, and his ruling strongly rejected every claim the legislators made.
While the courts decide the status of the tests, districts across the state have already started using the Common Core curriculum they developed over the past 4 years.
In other Common Core news, the state delayed textbook adoption for K-2 math and K-5 English because they were not fully aligned with Common Core; and a new national organization, EdReports.org, has formed to textbooks and provide online ratings.
Finally, Education Week published a great timeline and summary of the key moments in Louisiana’s Common-Core controversy, beginning in 2010. It is worth a quick look.
Making College Possible
Schools try to prepare low-income students for college
The Hechinger Report looks at the first graduating class of Cohen College Prep, which had a 100% college acceptance rate and 54 seniors who won more than $2 million in scholarship aid. Cohen has a college-for-all culture, which includes two counselors who help students find the right school, manage the application process, realistically evaluate costs and scholarship options, and who will even visit families at home to help them fill out federal financial aid forms.
Negatively Portraying Reform?
This is NPR: Negatively Portraying Reform?
NPR didn’t properly fact check its recent story on New Orleans schools, and they later issued an apology online and on the air. Peter Cook says this is what happens when national journalists fly in and build their stories around the loudest, most extreme voices. New Orleans has become a proxy for the national debate over education policy in this country, and Cook says the media needs to do a better job of covering the many sides and complexities of education reform in New Orleans.
Other Louisiana Headlines
14 new charter schools OKd by Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education committee
BESE approved eight applications to open 14 new charter schools in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Tangipahoa and Caddo parishes. The approval list includes a statewide expansion plan for the Algiers Charter School Association and additional schools for the Crescent City Schools network, the New Orleans College Prep management group, and the organization that runs Fannie C. Williams Charter.
Impact of La. school choice law unclear
A new law says a parent living in the attendance zone for a public school rated D or F may send their child to an A, B or C school anywhere in Louisiana. Superintendents are concerned the Department of Education is confusing this law with No Child Left Behind, which requires districts to notify parents in failing schools of their right to attend another school. Also, districts aren’t sure if they will be required to pay for transportation for students moving to other schools within their district.
Special education law sparks new controversy
A new state law will help more special education students earn a high school diploma by allowing alternative routes to graduation. However, some of those students can’t be counted as graduates (and earn points for their schools) in the state’s accountability system because federal rules require all students be held to traditional academic standards for diploma purposes.
Department Announces 2014-2015 Teacher Support Package
The Department of Education has released a package of increased supports for Louisiana’s educators, including hundreds of online trainings, more than 1,000 new sample test questions, reviews of textbooks and other materials with a curriculum guidebook for teachers, and an expansion of the successful Teacher Leaders program.
National Stories
High Schools Letting Students Sleep In to Improve Grades and Health
Many school districts are starting high school later to give teenagers more time to sleep at home. Research shows that teens need 8½ to 9¼ hours of sleep a night, but usually get fewer than 7. Chronic sleep deprivation makes teenagers more prone to depression, violence, health problems, drinking and smoking. A recent study found that pushing back high school start times improved academic performance, attendance and health, and reduced car crashes near schools.
The Real Value of Online Education
In higher education, the focus is usually on completion rates, but these may not be the only, or even the most meaningful, indicator of engagement in open online courses. Many students don’t enroll in online courses for a degree. Some are curious about the subject matter or want to sample many different subjects; others want to connect with peers with similar interests. Focusing on the tiny fraction (5%) of students who complete an online course may not be the best way to judge its value.
With Fractions, Common-Core Training Goes Beyond ‘Invert and Multiply’
When asked about the difference between old standards and Common Core, many teachers point to dividing fractions as an example. It’s not enough to just give students a formula to memorize. Now they have to help students make sense of problems and understand why a formula works. This article includes four ways to illustrate division of fractions to help students understand why the “invert and multiply” formula works.
Local News
New Orleans has highest percentage of private school students, Baton Rouge is 4th
The New Orleans region has the highest percentage of students attending private schools of any metro area in the country. A new study found 25% of students in the New Orleans metro area attend private school. Honolulu is second at 21%, and Baton Rouge is fourth with 19%. Nationally, 80% of private school students are in religiously affiliated schools, of which half are Catholic, and just 20% attend non-sectarian private schools.
OneApp serves 5,000 families in summer enrollment
After getting off to a rocky start, OneApp’s summer enrollment placed over 5,000 students in seats around the city. The summer enrollment process included families that were new to the city or coming from a school not in OneApp (43%), families that didn’t decide until summer to change schools from last year (30%), and families that wanted to change their fall OneApp assignment (22%).
Announcement
Citywide Common Core Forum
Learn more about Common Core in Louisiana and get your questions answered. The Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans are hosting a citywide Common Core Forum on Tuesday, August 26 from 6 pm to 8 pm at McDonogh 35 Senior High School. Attendees will learn about and discuss the evolution of Common Core in Louisiana and how it has been implemented locally in New Orleans.