The Big Picture: Good News Overall
The state has just released the 2009 School Performance Scores, and the news is good overall. Students in New Orleans are doing better than they were pre-Katrina, and New Orleans is one of the 5 most-improved areas in the state.
In 2005, just before Katrina, only 37% of Orleans Parish schools were considered Academically Acceptable with one star or higher. Today that number is 58% – an increase of 21 percentage points.
New Orleans is one of the most improved areas in the state, and our rate of progress is significantly higher than the state average. The District Performance Score for New Orleans Schools went from 56.9 in 2005 to 70.6 in 2009, an increase of 13.7 points. The state average only went up 3.6 points during this time.
DISTRICT PERFORMANCE SCORES
Since Katrina, only 4 other areas in Louisiana have grown faster than New Orleans: St. Helena, Point Coupee, East Feliciana and Madison – all small rural parishes with less than 3,000 students each. New Orleans has over 35,000 students in its schools.
Highlights and Lowlights
Charter Schools:
Charter Schools continue to out perform traditional public schools. This year, 81% of charters received one star or higher as compared to only 26% of traditional public schools.
In the Recovery School District, 76% of RSD charters (22 of 29) were one star or higher. In contrast, only 15% of the RSD operated schools (4 of 27) were one star or higher.
High Schools:
Pre-Katrina, every non-selective admissions high school in New Orleans was failing.
| Type | Open-Admissions High Schools | SPS | Performance |
| Charter | Warren Easton Senior High School | 84.1 | 2 stars |
| Charter | Edna Karr Secondary | 83 | 2 stars |
| Charter | N.O. Charter Science and Math Academy | 81.6 | 2 stars |
| Charter | N.O. Charter Science and Math High School | 76.7 | 1 star |
| Charter | Miller-McCoy Academy for Math and Business | 67.7 | 1 star |
| Charter | Thurgood Marshall ECHS (Capdau) | 66.4 | 1 star |
| Charter | Abramson Science and Technology Charter | 66.2 | 1 star |
The remaining 5 are selective-admissions:
| Type | Selective-Admissions High Schools | SPS | Performance |
| Charter | Benjamin Franklin High School | 167.5 | 5 stars |
| Charter | Lusher Charter School | 139.4 | 4 stars |
| OPSB | Eleanor McMain Secondary School | 84.8 | 2 stars |
| OPSB | McDonogh #35 Senior High School | 82.5 | 2 stars |
Honorable mention: While O. Perry Walker’s two-year SPS is 55.9, its one year Growth Performance Score was above 60 at 63.3, showing marked improvement from 2008.
Challenges:
Unfortunately, too many high schools continue to struggle, especially ones operated by the RSD.
| Type | Academically Unsatisfactory High Schools | SPS | Performance |
| Charter | O.P. Walker Senior High School | 55.9 | AUS |
| Charter | Priestly School of Architecture/Construction | 51.1 | AUS |
| Charter | Algiers Technology Academy | 49.9 | AUS |
| RSD | Sarah T. Reed Senior High School | 33.6 | AUS |
| RSD | G.W. Carver High School | 29.5 | AUS |
| RSD | John McDonogh Senior High School | 23.2 | AUS |
| RSD | Rabouin Career Magnet High School | 22.6 | AUS |
| RSD | Joseph S. Clark Senior High School | 22.1 | AUS |
| RSD | Walter L. Cohen High School | 20.0 | AUS |
| RSD | Fredrick A. Douglass High School | 17.1 | AUS |
Open-Admissions:
More open-admissions schools are now two stars or higher. Educate Now!‘s definition of an open admissions school: Any child can attend the school no matter where they live, their prior academic or behavior record. If more students want to attend than there are spaces, a random selection process is used.
The following open-admissions schools received 2 stars or higher, deserving a “shout out” and demonstrating that we should expect all of our schools to educate students to higher levels.
| Type | Open-Admissions Schools – 2 Stars and Above | SPS | Performance |
| Charter | KIPP Central City Primary | 114.6 | 3 stars |
| Charter | Edward Hynes Charter School | 107.1 | 3 stars |
| Charter | Robert Russa Moton Charter School | 97.6 | 2 stars |
| Charter | E. Phillips: KIPP Believe College Prep | 97.2 | 2 stars |
| Charter | Martin Behrman Elementary School | 94.8 | 2 stars |
| Charter | Dr. M.L.K. Charter School for Science & Tech. | 91.4 | 2 stars |
| Charter | Alice Harte Elementary Charter School | 88.9 | 2 stars |
| Charter | McDonogh #15: A KIPP Transformation School | 88.8 | 2 stars |
| Charter | Einstein Charter School | 85.3 | 2 stars |
| Charter | Edna Karr Secondary School | 83.0 | 2 stars |
| Charter | N.O. Charter Science & Math Academy | 81.6 | 2 stars |
Individual School Performance Scores
To view individual School Performance Scores, click on the links below:
2009 School Performance Scores (SPS)
Sorted by District in Alphabetical Order
Sorted by District in SPS Order
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Educate Now!
Leslie Jacobs
Founder