In this edition of In the News:
- Critical Votes for BESE this Week
- Charters Give New Orleans a Fresh Start
- Planning for Leader Turnover in Charter Schools
- National Studies and Commentary
- Other Local News
Critical Votes for BESE this Week
BESE will make key decisions this week impacting New Orleans:
BESE will vote on whether to keep the schools in the RSD.
BESE will vote on a Revised Plan for Return of Schools. One key revision from the earlier version allows the Orleans Parish School Board to submit a proposal to operate a chronically failing RSD school. Other changes include clarifying the performance standard for school choice: schools with a School Performance Score of 80 or higher for two consecutive years can choose to stay in the RSD or return to OPSB either as a Type 3 charter school or a direct-run school.
BESE will vote on New Charter Schools for 2011-12.
The state received 39 charter school applications and is recommending BESE approve twelve of them. Nine are located in New Orleans, including eight in the RSD and one new Type 2 charter school. View the recommendations.
Common Application
All RSD schools, both charter and traditional, are required to participate in the Common Application process. View the recommended process and timeline for the 2011-12 school year.
School Performance Grades Plan
The Advocate – December 1, 2010
A new state law requires that schools be assigned traditional grades (A-F) instead of the stars and labels currently used. BESE will look at a plan that assigns grades based upon School Performance Scores but also takes school improvement into account, allowing schools to move up a grade if they are showing significant academic gains.
Pending Textbook Adoption Fans Evolution Debate
Education Week – December 1, 2010
BESE will vote on whether or not to adopt the recommended high school biology and environmental sciences textbooks. Opponents of the texts claim they do not sufficiently question the theory of evolution.
Charters Give New Orleans a Fresh Start
Charter Schools Have Given New Orleans a Fresh Start in Education
Dallas Morning News – November 21, 2010
Charter schools have more freedom in how they operate than traditionally-run schools. The Dallas Morning News looks at charters in New Orleans and concludes, “Freedom in the right hands works.”
Planning for Leader Turnover in Charter Schools
You’re Leaving? Succession and Sustainability in Charter Schools
Center on Reinventing Public Education – November 2010
The projected turnover rate for charter school leaders is high – 71% in five years. This study outlines the impact of turnover and provides important steps for charter schools that can stabilize a school and better position it to choose the best possible leader.
National Studies and Commentary
Teach for America Recruits Produce Higher Test Scores
Education Week – December 3, 2010
In Tennessee, students taught by Teach for America corps members scored higher In English, math and social studies than students taught by recent graduates of traditional colleges of education.
Teachers’ $500 Billion (and Growing) Pension Problem
Time – November 11, 2010
Without major reforms, the $500 billion shortfall in teacher pensions could become the next savings and loan crisis or housing-market mess.
Duncan: Stop Paying Teachers Like ‘Interchangeable Widgets’
Education Week – November 18, 2010
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says that teachers are not interchangeable, and those who outperform their peers should be compensated accordingly.
Other Local News
Orleans Parish School Board Sues the State for Right to Evaluate Charter School Applications
The Times-Picayune – November 26, 2010
The Orleans Parish School Board has filed a lawsuit against the state to be removed from its “academically in crisis” status and be allowed to evaluate nine charter school applications already submitted to the state.
Civil Rights Group Criticizes New Orleans School Discipline
Education Week – December 3, 2010
The Southern Poverty Law Center has issued a report called “Access Denied” that highlights two of its highest-priority education-related issues: allegedly harsh disciplinary measures and the treatment of students with disabilities.
Pastorek: Student Gains Threatened
The Advocate – December 3, 2010
Ten years of gains in student achievement, the high school graduation rate, and closing the black-white achievement gap are threatened by continued cutbacks in Louisiana’s education budget.