In this edition of In the News:
- You Can Win $1,000 for Your Favorite N.O. Public School
- Discussion on Return of Schools Begins in Ernest
- Grading Louisiana
- Stand-Alone Middle Schools Get Low Scores
- Value-Added Approach Has Limits
- Research Challenges Theories on How We Learn
- Let’s Not Look to Los Angeles
You Can Win $1,000 for Your Favorite N.O. Public School
Educate Now! is Giving Away $3,000 to N.O. Public Schools
Educate Now! is giving three New Orleans public schools $1,000 each through its Share to Win competition. To win $1,000 for your favorite N.O. public school, simply go to www.sharetowinnola.com and register. Then use the website to share the contest information with your friends. The three people who generate the most entries win! Start sharing today and win big for New Orleans public schools!
Discussion on Return of Schools Begins in Ernest
Pastorek: Schools Should Stay in RSD
Fox 8 News – August 30, 2010
By law, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education must vote this December on whether to keep control of many New Orleans RSD schools or return control to the Orleans Parish School Board. Pastorek says BESE should keep most, if not all in the RSD.
Bonin and Perry Discuss Return of Schools
Fox 8 News – August 31, 2010
Orleans Parish School Board member Brett Bonin and Dr. Andre Perry of the UNO Charter Network share their thoughts on whether RSD schools should be returned to OPSB. Bonin says OPSB is “only capable right now of probably taking back maybe five or six schools.”
State Superintendent Charts Course for New Orleans Schools to Return to Local Control
The Times-Picayune – September 12, 2010
Paul Pastorek will recommend to BESE that schools showing steady improvement should be able to choose their governing entity, whether that be RSD, OPSB or some other, not yet created body. He says school decisions should be made with community input.
Grading Louisiana
La. School Performance Near Bottom
The Advocate – September 8, 2010
A recent study compared students from low-income families from all 50 states and found that Louisiana ranks 47th in academic performance. The good news? Louisiana got mostly good marks for improvements in academic performance since 2003 and high marks for policies in place to improve school performance.
Grading Paul Vallas
New Orleans Magazine – September 2010
In the three years since Paul Vallas took over as Superintendent of the Recovery School District he has accomplished a great deal, but there is still much to be done to get RSD schools and students to where they need to be.
Stand-Alone Middle Schools Get Low Scores
Stuck in the Middle
Education Next – Fall 2010
Students who go to stand-alone middle schools score lower than students who stay in the same school through the 8th grade according to a recent study from Education Next.
Value-Added Approach Has Limits
Needs Improvement: Where Teacher Report Cards Fall Short
The Wall Street Journal – August 21, 2010
The value-added approach to grading teachers is statistically flawed but might still be better than current practices.
Some Scholars Slam Value-Added for Teacher Accountability
Education Week – August 31, 2010
A group of academics released a report recently that contends value-added gauges of teacher effectiveness – measuring teacher effectiveness by changes in standardized test scores – are limited and should represent only a small part of any teacher accountability system.
Research Challenges Theories on How We Learn
Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
The New York Times – September 7, 2010
Psychologists have discovered that some of the most hallowed advice on study habits and learning styles is flat wrong.
Let’s Not Look to Los Angeles
New Orleans is excited about our $1.8 billion FEMA settlement, but let’s not look to Los Angeles for how to spend it.
Education Week – September 1, 2010
Robert F. Kennedy Community School opens this month in Los Angeles former Ambassador Hotel, where the former attorney general was assassinated in 1968. It will be the nation’s most expensive public school yet. The $578 million, K-12 complex will serve 4,200 students and include a marble memorial of Mr. Kennedy, a manicured public park, a swimming pool, and parts of the original hotel. It follows on the heels of the city’s new $377 million Edward R. Roybal Learning Center and the $232 million Visual and Performing Arts High School.