2009 Spring Test Results

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Great News: Performance Soars!

The recently released 2009 Test Scores are great news for New Orleans. Across the city, student achievement improved dramatically.

These gains are truly significant and show the reforms underway are working.

  • New Orleans improved more than the state across all grades and subjects.
  • New Orleans showed real growth in the percentage of students passing the promotional high-stakes LEAP and GEE tests.
  • Significantly more students met the state proficiency goal of Basic or Above.

This edition of Leslie’s Notebook will focus on the high stakes tests – 4th and 8th grade English and Math LEAP tests, along with the Graduation Exit Exam – to highlight the tremendous improvement both this year and since the state took over the schools in 2006.

These results include all schools under the Orleans Parish School Board and the Recovery School District, both traditional and charter.

Continue reading →

Paul Vallas’ Legacy

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs
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After Paul Vallas’ annoucement last week that he will be returning to Chicago in 2010, a number of Educate Now!’s members asked me for my perspective on this coming transition.  This Notebook is also the subject of a guest column in today’s Times Picayune.
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So, what will Paull Vallas’ depature in 2010 mean for the school reform effort? 
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After he leaves, student achievement in New Orleans will continue to improve.

How can I proclaim this with such confidence?

Because we now have a new model of public education reform that is no longer dependent upon Paul Vallas or any other single person for its success.

2008 School Performance Scores

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs
 

The recently released School Performance Scores give us the first clear picture of how schools in New Orleans are performing since Katrina.


Student test scores are used for three different measurements: student performance, school performance, and district performance.  In May, the state releases the test scores and gives information on individual student performance: how many passed the LEAP test, did scores go up, etc. This month, the state issued both School and District Performance Scores.


School Performance Scores (SPS) analyze the test data at the school level allowing us to compare one school’s performance to another. A District Performance Score takes the student test data for all students in the district to evaluate district performance.

For a listing of schools and scores go to: School Scores

So How Do We Compare Post-Katrina?

Schools are better

Fewer are failing. The percentage of schools that are one star or higher (non-failing) has increased from 34% to 55%. Continue reading →