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Doug Harris, the director of Tulane University’s Education Research Alliance, penned an op-ed in the New York Times that compares New Orleans’ charter school performance and regulation to Detroit’s. Harris says the DeVos nomination should worry anyone who wants to improve results for children, as DeVos helped design the effort in Detroit, which did not have the needed regulation and accountability.
Education Week offers a reality check for both sides of the school choice debate, pointing out the challenges that anyone pushing for large-scale reform will face.
School Board Endorses Platform
The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) is moving forward with a shared vision and platform for New Orleans schools. Five incumbents have retained their seats. Leslie Ellison, Woody Koppel and Nolan Marshall Jr. defeated their challengers in the recent election, and John Brown and Sarah Usdin won unopposed. Two new members join the school board: Ben Kleban and Ethan Ashley.
All seven members of the board have pledged their support for a series of goals and action items developed by Forward New Orleans Public Schools (FNOPS). The FNOPS platform covers eight different commitments: to expand high-quality, high-performing schools; serve students equitably; ensure equal access to schools; enforce school autonomy with accountability; act as a responsible resource manager; engage in system-wide strategic planning; collaborate to implement best practices; and promote academic excellence and equity for all public school students.
The District Performance Score (DPS) is the most comprehensive measurement of school and student performance. The DPS for New Orleans includes all students, all tests, and all grade levels for OPSB and RSD (including students that attended schools now closed).
Download the 2016 District Performance Scores for New Orleans Schools (xlsx).
Positive Impact: School Closures and Takeovers
School closures and takeovers can have strong positive effects on student outcomes, according to a new report from Tulane’s Education Research Alliance. Their study looked at school closures and takeovers from 2008 to 2014 in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and found:
In his review of the study, Neerav Kingland said it’s clear there are good ways and bad ways to close schools, and cities should not close failing schools and send children to other failing schools. “But the NOLA data indicates that it’s possible to help both existing and future students, which should increase your belief in the benefits of school closure.”
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Department Releases Draft Louisiana ESSA Plan
State Supt. John White released a draft framework for how Louisiana can comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind last year. White’s plan includes changes in how public schools are rated, fewer tests, new assistance for persistently struggling schools, and better teacher preparation.
Earlier this year, Gov. John Bel Edwards named his own panel to do a separate review of the state’s public school policies. White says he looks forward to sharing his ideas with them. “This is not a political document,” he said. “We cannot go back to the political squabbles of old.”
White’s draft plan is set for discussion at nine meetings in October and November, including public gatherings and education panels. You can read the plan on the Department of Education’s website.
Divided Over Charter Schools
The African-American community is divided over charter schools. This month, the board of the NAACP will vote on a resolution, approved by its members, calling for a moratorium on new charters. Black Lives Matter took a similar position in their first-ever policy agenda.
In response, the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) helped start the Charters Work campaign and sent a letter to the NAACP, signed by 160 Black educators, advocates, lawmakers and religious leaders asking them to reject the moratorium. This group includes Cheryl Brown Henderson, the youngest daughter of the plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education.
A federal judge has ruled against Lusher and Lake Forest and their attempt to halt changes to the differentiated funding formula. In the opinion of Judge Jane Triche Milazzo:
The judge declined to rule on whether the funding formula had been adopted legally, saying state courts should consider the matter first.
Last spring, OPSB and RSD worked together to develop a unified per-student funding formula, an important stage in returning RSD schools to local control. The unified formula emphasizes students with disabilities, with a small extra amount for each gifted student. Lusher and Lake Forest, with their large gifted populations and small number of students with disabilities, will receive less money than they would have under the old formula.
The schools say they are considering their options at this time.
Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr., August 29, 2016
The Orleans Parish School Board unanimously approved a Unification Plan outlining the return of schools to the elected board.
With the adoption of this plan, the school board has embraced a shared vision for the unified school district that builds upon the changes since Katrina and commits to continuing improvement.
A locally elected school board will govern a system of schools in a district that is over 90% charter schools, provides school choice for all families, and expressly commits to ensuring equity and recognizing the need for differentiated resources based on student need.
A slide from the superintendent’s presentation to the school board captures this vision:
National Headlines
To graduate from high school, Colorado requires students show proficiency in English and math. Districts are revising their graduation requirements, allowing students to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of ways. The state guidelines provide a “menu” of options, including SAT scores; passing a concurrent enrollment college-level course; earning a score of 2 or higher out of 5 on an Advanced Placement test; or completing a college thesis-like capstone project demonstrating knowledge of a subject.
A new study shows low-income kindergartners are entering school with stronger math and reading skills, narrowing the large academic gap with their more affluent peers.
The public continues to support many school reforms, according to Education Next’s 10th annual opinion poll, including charter schools, federally mandated testing, and teacher tenure reform. Backing for Common Core and school vouchers, however, fell to new lows in 2016.
School districts are working to identify homeless students, including those “hidden” in other people’s homes or living in motels or cars. More than 1.3 million students are considered homeless in the U.S. A new federal law requires states to break out performance data for homeless students, in addition to other sub-groups.
Closer to Home
In Bossier Parish, hundreds of individuals with disabilities who didn’t graduate from high school could receive their diploma retroactively. Bossier Schools is the pilot district for the implementation of a new state law that says individuals with disabilities can petition their local school system if they were denied a diploma solely for failing to pass the state’s standardized exit exam.
A new bridge program between the University of New Orleans and Delgado Community College should help more students enroll in college and finish their degrees by making it easier for UNO applicants to complete initial coursework at Delgado (if necessary) and easier for UNO students to earn an associate degree at Delgado if they don’t complete their bachelor’s at UNO.
BESE member Kira Orange Jones has been promoted to a new position at Teach for America. She will be leaving her position as executive director for TFA New Orleans to supervise a cohort of TFA executive directors across the Midwest and the South.
Children of Katrina 11 Years Later
The number of children in New Orleans, particularly African-American girls and boys, has fallen steadily since Hurricane Katrina, according to a recent study from the Newcomb College Institute. Boys and young men under age 20 made up 31 percent of the African-American male population in 2014, down from 39 percent in 2000. Similarly, girls and young women under age 20 accounted for 26 percent of the African-American female population, down from 33 percent in 2000.
In this video from Huffington Post, students from Edna Karr High School reflect on Hurricane Katrina and share how their charter school has given them hope and helped them to succeed.
2016 ACT: Just the Facts
A new fact sheet on ACT performance from the state Department of Education shows Louisiana is closing the performance gap with the national average. While the nation’s average composite score declined 0.2 since 2014, Louisiana’s increased 0.3, from 19.2 in 2014 to 19.5 in 2016.
The state ranked 13th out of 18 states that require all students take the ACT and 3rd among the seven southern states where the ACT is mandatory. Nationally, Louisiana ranked 44th in 2016, up from 48th in 2014. For information on New Orleans’ ACT results, view Educate Now!’s 2016 ACT analysis.
OPSB Election Updates
Cynthia Cade decided not to appeal, which means she is officially disqualified from the race for OPSB’s 2nd District (Gentilly, New Orleans East). Ethan Ashley will become the District 2 school board member effective 1/1/17. Ashley is the 4th school board member who will serve this coming term without an election, joining John Brown, Sarah Usdin and Ben Kleban.
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