Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Cowen Institute E-News October

In this edition, we are happy to bring you information about our team, our updated website and other information pertaining to public schools in New Orleans. Thank you for being a subscriber.
We look forward to your feedback and questions.
Please send correspondence to: coweninfo@tulane.edu

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U.S. Secretary of Education Visits New Orleans High School

Coinciding with President Obama’s visit to New Orleans on Thursday, October 15th, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spent over an hour with a group of seniors at John McDonogh High School. John McDonogh, a public school in the Recovery School District, has shown dramatic improvements since reopening after Hurricane Katrina. Last May, about 90 percent of senior class graduated. During the roundtable conversation, the students told Secretary Duncan about their tragic experiences in the months after New Orleans flooded. They also discussed the positive changes that have been made at John McDonogh, including the offering of college-level Advance Placement (AP) courses. They also noted the continuing challenges, such as limited course offerings, lack of computers and textbooks. The main concern of the students was the lack of adequate facilities, including science labs for their AP biology and chemistry courses. John McDonogh is a prime example of the inadequate school facilities that plague New Orleans’ schools. Several of the Cowen Institute’s AP students participated in the discussion and noted AdvanceNOLA as one of the ways John McDonogh has made the first steps towards becoming a true college prep school. The Secretary’s visit was coordinated with the assistance of the Cowen Institute’s Executive Director, Shannon Jones. Along with Jones, Tulane President Scott Cowen accompanied Secretary Duncan to his visit to John McDonogh. 

*Photo credit to Matthew Hinton/Times Picayune

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Cowen Institute Presents Paper at Education Symposium

Michael Schwam-Baird and Laura Mogg, the research team at the Cowen Institute, presented a paper on Friday, October 16th, at a symposium entitled “Reconstructing Education in New Orleans” hosted by the Loyola University College of Law. Michael and Laura’s paper, which will be published in Loyola’s Journal of Public Interest Law, compares claims made about public education in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina to the education data that is available. They find that while the information that exists is suggestive and shows promising trends in public school performance, there is generally not enough data available to justify some of the major claims, both supportive and critical, made about the city’s vast experiment in public education reform. As an alternative they propose a much more careful approach to using data in order to understand the reforms that are working and building upon those changes that show the most promise.

Their paper is entitled: Is Education Reform in New Orleans Working?: A Few Facts Swimming in a Sea of Unknowns. Review the presentation by clicking here. 
 

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BESE Approves Eight New Charter Schools for New Orleans

The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) gave approval to five organizations to open a total of eight new charter schools in New Orleans to be opened in either the 2010-2011 or 2011-2012 school year. The new charters are as follows:

• ReNEW Schools, Inc. to operate up to 2 takeover K-8 schools as determined by the Recovery School District (RSD)
• New Beginnings Foundation, Inc. to operate Gentilly Terrace Elementary
• Morris Jeff Community School, Inc. to operate Morris Jeff – opening in 2011
• Spirit of Excellence Learning Academy, Inc. to operate Harney Elementary School
• FirstLine Schools, Inc. These schools are Dibert Elementary School, New Orleans Charter Elementary – a takeover K-8 school as determined by the RSD, and FirstLine College Prep – a high school to open in 2011-12.

In accordance with Louisiana Department of Education procedure, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) was asked to manage the application process. NACSA recommended all charter applicants for approval with some conditions. The conditions were primarily that the operators be assigned a school program and/or a school building by the Recovery School District.
 

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Proposed Rules Released for Investing in Innovation Grant Program

On October 6, 2009, the U.S. Department of Education released the proposed ground rules for the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant program, or “i3”. The i3 program is a piece of the nearly $100 billion for education in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is meant to expand promising, innovative education improvement practices at the district level.

Under the proposed rules, the competitive grants will be divided into three different tiers, with programs that have already shown evidence of success eligible for the largest grants. School districts and nonprofit groups working in conjunction with a district or a consortium of public schools are the only two types of entities eligible to apply for the money, which will be awarded by September 30, 2010. Applicants are required to:

• Have significantly closed the achievement gaps between groups of students;
• Have demonstrated success in significantly increasing student academic achievement for all groups of students;
• Have made significant improvement in other areas (graduation rates, high-quality teachers and school leaders);
• Demonstrate that they have partnerships with the private sector that will provide matching funds.

The U.S. Department of Education is currently receiving comments on the proposed rules. To view the proposed rules and submit comments, click here . The deadline for comments is November 9, 2009.
 

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