Month: August 2013

In the News: August 19, 2013

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

In this edition of In the News:

  • Good News for New Orleans
  • Common Core Updates
  • National Headlines
  • News from BESE
  • Local Stories

Good News for New Orleans

New Orleans charter schools show progress with students, study finds
Times-Picayune – August 8, 2013
The latest CREDO study focused on Louisiana and found that New Orleans charter school students are learning faster than their peers at conventional schools and faster than their peers at charters elsewhere in Louisiana. Half of the city’s charter schools are performing significantly better than conventional public schools in reading, and 56% are performing higher in math. These gains equate to an extra 120 days of learning in reading and 150 days in math. Continue reading →

Positive Results from New Expulsion Policies

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

The Recovery School District (RSD) and the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) announced the results of the first year of the new expulsion policy for public schools in Orleans Parish.

  • There were 272 expulsions in the 2012-13 school year, for an expulsion rate of .57%
  • In comparison, the state had an expulsion rate of .7%
  • New Orleans’ expulsion rate is 20% below the state

Not only is New Orleans leading the state in academic gains, we are doing so while expelling fewer students than the state average.

What did New Orleans do differently in the 2012-13 school year?

  • Common expulsion process and definition: Charter and traditional school leaders across the RSD, OPSB, and Type 2 charter schools worked together to establish a joint policy and coordinate a centralized process for student expulsions.

The 2012-13 school year was the inaugural year, with 90 of the 91 public schools in New Orleans participating. These schools agreed that all expulsion hearings would be administered by the RSD’s Student Hearing Office and agreed to limit the reasons a student could be expelled. Continue reading →

In the News – August 7, 2013

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

In this edition of In the News:

  • New Orleans is Hot!
  • Special Education Challenges
  • Good News
  • National Education Stories
  • OPSB Updates
  • Louisiana Headlines
  • Other Local News
  • In Memoriam – Everett Williams

New Orleans is Hot!

Hot U.S. Cities That Offer Both Jobs and Culture Are Mostly Southern and Modest Sized
Daily Beast – July 30, 2013
New Orleans is a “hotspot” and a magnet for opportunity according to the Daily Beast. Looking at employment, per capita income, population growth, the migration of college-educated people, and the quality of life, the Daily Beast found that New Orleans is not only culturally rich but also a good place to build a career, buy a home, and ultimately raise a family in relative comfort. Continue reading →

Number of Failing Schools Plummets

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Every August, as part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the state releases a preliminary list of failing schools because most will be required to offer parents the option to transfer their children to another school.

This year, only 9 New Orleans schools are failing. This low number is truly a cause for celebration and reflects the past 7 years of stellar growth.

To determine which schools must provide choice, the state calculates a preliminary School Performance Score (SPS). This year marks a new SPS system with changes in how the scores are calculated.

With a new system, it’s best to compare New Orleans performance to the state, since the system has changed for all schools across the state.

  • In 2013, New Orleans has 9 of 112 failing schools in Louisiana (8%).
  • In 2005, New Orleans had 66 out of 151 failing schools in Louisiana (44%).

See below for the list of failing schools.

We just need to repeat it: There were only 9 New Orleans schools on the list (and 4 of them are alternative schools).

Continue reading →