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$2 Mil Grant Opportunity for N.O. Charters

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS
LOCATED IN ORLEANS PARISH AND PARTICIPATING IN ONEAPP*

BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: NEW ORLEANS PERSONALIZED LEARNING
$2 MILLION IN GRANTS AVAILABLE THIS SCHOOL YEAR

Round One Proposals are due September 15, 2014. Winners will be announced in October.

Personalized Learning (PL) seeks to accelerate student learning by tailoring the instructional environment – what, when, how, and where students learn – to address the individual needs, skills, and interests of each student. Students take ownership of their own learning, while also developing deep personal connections to each other, their teachers, and other adults. Between 2014 and 2017, Breakthrough Schools: New Orleans will distribute approximately $6 million to support the robust integration of personalized learning in schools and classrooms in New Orleans.

This year’s funding will entail two rounds:

Round 1

Grant opportunities ranging from $10,000 to $66,000 will be available in Fall 2014 to prepare schools that are interested in further exploration or in whole-school implementation. Grant funding will be issued to schools interested in any of the following:

  • Further EXPLORATION of Personalized Learning;
  • The development and implementation of a yearlong Personalized Learning PILOT; or
  • The creation of a WHOLE-SCHOOL MODEL PL PLAN.

Free technical assistance will be provided to all grantees.

A Request for Proposals has just been released for the exploration, pilot, and planning grants, and can be accessed here. Applications are due September 15, 2014.

Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Schools: Voucher Performance

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Performance is uneven in traditional public schools. Performance is uneven in charter schools. It should come as no surprise that performance is uneven in nonpublic schools.

Let’s look at two schools participating in the Orleans voucher pilot: St. Leo the Great and Upperroom Bible Church Academy.

  • Last year, St. Leo had 136 voucher students; Upperroom Bible had 74.
  • Both began participation 4 years ago, beginning with students in grades K-3.
  • Both had more than 60% of their total student population receiving vouchers.
  • Students enrolling in either school from grades 1 and up came from a failing school.
  • Students at both schools took the same state tests – iLeap and LEAP.

But the similarities stop here. Continue reading →