2013 Test Scores Are In, and We Rock! … Again!!

Student performance showed robust improvement for the 6th consecutive year.

  • New Orleans (OPSB & RSD) is #1 in growth, gaining 5 points in the percentage of students meeting the state proficiency goal of Basic or above.
  • This growth was fueled by RSD-New Orleans, with its 6 point gain.
  • OPSB grew 1 point, equal to the state average.
  • Students improved across all grades and subjects.

Special Education – OPSB Not Serving Its Share

Schools under the OPSB serve a disproportionately low number of students with disabilities. The city average is 9.9% special education students, but OPSB schools (charter and traditional combined) serve 6.6%. OPSB charters serve only 5.49% while RSD charters serve 11.1%.

Even OPSB’s open-admission charter schools are significantly under-serving special education students.

OPSB receives a lump sum based on the total number of students with disabilities in the city. It then distributes the money among its schools as if each individual school had the average 9.9% special education enrollment. That means some OPSB schools are getting much more than their fair share of special education dollars, while other schools aren’t getting enough.

Read more in this article in the Times-Picayune:

Special education enrollment numbers show Orleans Parish School Board charters lagging

View the list of schools and special education enrollment:

In the News – May 21, 2013

In this Edition of In the News:

  • Choice Updates
  • Session Status
  • National Headlines
  • Local News

Choice Updates

Shakeout from school voucher ruling by Louisiana Supreme Court begins
Times-Picayune – May 15, 2013
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that using the MFP to fund vouchers and Course Choice is unconstitutional, which means the state has to find another way to pay for the programs. Andrew Vanacore suggests that with 8,000 vouchers students already signed up for this coming school year, legislators will probably approve voucher funding for 2013-14. After that, the programs’ future is uncertain. As for Course Choice, Superintendent John White says his department plans to go ahead with the program next year and fund the $2.1 million through his own department budget.

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In the News: May 6, 2013

In this edition of In the News:

  • Boomtown New Orleans
  • BGR Releases Report on OPSB Finances
  • Rethinking the High School to College Transition
  • Common Core Updates
  • National Education Stories
  • Louisiana Headlines
  • Local News

Boomtown New Orleans

The Top 12 American Boomtowns
Bloomberg – April 24, 2013
According to Bloomberg Rankings, New Orleans is one of America’s fastest growing cities. The New Orleans metropolitan area – New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner – was ranked #2 for population increase combined with growth in real GDP. New Orleans came in after Austin in the rankings but beat out Raleigh and Houston for the #2 spot.

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