new orleans public schools

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 →

2012 K-8 Test Scores Released

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

The K-8 student test scores for Louisiana were released today, and New Orleans continues to improve.

Test Score Highlights 

  • For the 6th year in a row, student performance is up.
  • Growth was less robust this year. While the RSD outperformed the state, for the first time since Katrina, OPSB did not.
  • New Orleans Combined (OPSB +RSD) tied the state with a 2 point gain in the percentage of students Basic or above.
  • New Orleans students performed better than last year in all four subjects (English, Math, Science and Social Studies).
  • We reduced the percentage of students performing in the lowest category (Unsatisfactory).
  • We increased the percentage of students performing above grade level (Mastery and Advanced). Continue reading →

More New Orleans Graduates College and Career Ready

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

One of the key goals of K-12 education is to give our students the educational foundation they need to be college or career ready. In Louisiana, we have a good benchmark to measure this preparedness – what percent of our students qualify for TOPS, a program that provides two- and four-year merit-based scholarships to Louisiana public colleges and universities.

Educate Now! recently reviewed the TOPS data, and New Orleans continues to close the gap.

  • The percent of Orleans Parish public school students eligible for TOPS scholarships (two- or four-year) has grown from 24.9% in 2005 to 37.2% for last year’s graduates – a gain of 12.3 percentage points.
  • During this same time, the state average grew only 5.2 percentage points, from 37.3% in 2005 to 42.5% in 2011. Continue reading →

The Session Begins

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Governor Jindal has made K-12 education reform the cornerstone of his legislative agenda. He is proposing sweeping changes – including expanding vouchers, creating more charter schools, and changing teacher tenure – that could radically alter the landscape of Louisiana education.

This Wednesday the House Education Committee and this Thursday the Senate Education Committee will hear his three foundational bills.

  • Rep. Carter’s House Bill 976 and Sen. Appel’s SB 597, which expand school choice, including the scholarship program, pathways for charter schools, the providers who can offer courses to K-12 students, and a “parent trigger” for failing schools.
  • Rep. Carter’s House Bill 974 and Sen. Appel’s SB 603, which link teacher tenure to performance, make effectiveness the primary criterion for personnel decisions, and grant authority for hiring and placement of personnel to school superintendents.
  • Rep. Carter’s House Bill 933 and Sen. Appel’s SB 581, which outline a framework for a single coordinated early childhood education system with accountability for academic outcomes.

Comments on the Governor’s Education Package

Gov. Bobby Jindal Education Overhaul Legislation Introduced
The Times-Picayune – March 3, 2012
This article outlines the governor’s ambitious plans, provides details on the different bills to be debated, and presents arguments for and against his most controversial proposals to overhaul teacher tenure and expand vouchers. Continue reading →

News Alert: BESE Approves Major Changes to the MFP

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Yesterday, BESE approved an MFP resolution that now goes to the legislature to be voted upon.

The resolution approved yesterday includes some major changes that align with the Governor’s K-12 reform agenda. The underlying philosophy of these changes is the money to educate a child should follow that child to a broader array of education providers – not just public elementary and secondary schools.

Background on the MFP: The MFP stands for the Minimum Foundation Plan and is the formula that provides the funding for public schools in Louisiana. It includes the local share (local property and sales taxes dedicated to K-12 education) as well as the state share (money paid by the state.) BESE approves an MFP resolution every year, which the legislature can only vote to approve or reject – they cannot amend it.

STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS (VOUCHERS)

If the legislature votes in favor of this resolution, Student Scholarships will be included in the MFP. The pilot voucher program in New Orleans was funded with state dollars outside of the MFP and had to be annually appropriated by the legislature. By including the vouchers in the MFP, the scholarships will now be funded using both state and local revenues and have the constitutional funding protection provided by the MFP. Continue reading →

Schools More Diverse; High Poverty Stays the Same

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Orleans Public School Enrollment Continues to Climb with Increase in Diversity and Charter Choice

  • New Orleans continues its steady increase in enrollment, growing from 39,877 students last year to 42,030 this year.
  • The student population continues to diversify, with the percentage of non-African American students growing to 13.7% this year, up from 11.3% last year and 6.6% before Katrina.
  • The percentage of students attending charter schools increased sizably, from 71% last year to 77.5% this year
  • The percent of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch has remained fairly constant – 83.5% – and is more than 16 percentage points higher than the state average.

View student enrollment for OPSB and RSD by year and by sub-group (white, black, free, reduced).


View the Oct 1 student enrollment by school.

For more information on children in New Orleans, read this report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It includes demographic and socio-economic data as well as information on educational achievement.

 

2011 Scores are In — New Orleans is #1 in Growth!

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Since 2005, New Orleans has improved more than
any other school district in Louisiana.


District Performance Highlights

Educate Now! calculates that the combined DPS for New Orleans should be around 82.4. This means that New Orleans has grown a stunning 25.5 points – 49% – between 2005 and 2011!

#1 in Growth Since 2005
District Performance Score = All students, all grades, all tests

The 2011 combined DPS for New Orleans was calculated by Educate Now!

Continue reading →

End of Course Tests

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

What are End of Course Tests (EOCs)?

Louisiana is phasing out the Graduation Exit Exam (GEE) and replacing it with specific End of Course tests, or EOCs.

There are six EOC exams. Beginning with the freshman class of 2010-11, students must pass at least three of the tests to graduate:

  • English II or English III
  • Algebra I or Geometry
  • Biology or American History

Like the GEE, if a student does not pass the test on their first attempt, they have other opportunities to take the test.

Last year, the state tested students in Algebra I, English II, and Geometry. Tests for Biology, English III and American History will be phased in over the next two years.

The Louisiana Department of Education recently released the 2010-11 End of Course test results for Algebra I, English II and Geometry. Educate Now! analyzed student performance for New Orleans schools, focusing specifically on Algebra I and English II.

How did our students do?

Algebra I: New Orleans (all OPSB and RSD schools) outperformed many other school districts, posting its highest ranking relative to other school districts on any state administered test- ever! Continue reading →

Closing the Gap

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

New Orleans students are closing the achievement gap!

Some of the most persistent achievement gaps in New Orleans – between black and white, the poor and the well-off, those with and without special needs – are shrinking, and at a pace that is much faster than ever before.

  • This year, for the first time since Louisiana began keeping track, African-American students in New Orleans performed better than African-American students statewide.

  • New Orleans’ poor students and students with disabilities are also rapidly closing the performance gap compared to state performance.

According to The Education Trust, a national organization whose mission is to close achievement gaps, “This is really meaningful progress.” Continue reading →

Voucher Program in Trouble

Posted on by Leslie Jacobs

Voucher Program Faltering: Accountability and Performance Standards Needed

Educate Now! analyzed student test scores from voucher schools and compared them to New Orleans Recovery School District (RSD) schools. We found that for the second year in a row, students participating in the voucher program performed worse than students in the RSD!

STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Comparing 3rd, 4th and 5th graders

  • Statewide:  75% performed on grade level (Basic or above)
  • RSD schools: 49% performed on grade level
  • Voucher schools: Only 38% performed on grade level

Continue reading →