[CharterSchools] FW: News from Educate Now

[charterschools at LACharter.org]

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November 24, 2008
Greetings Friends,


Our mission at Educate Now! is to make the reforms underway in New Orleans public
education effective and sustainable. As part of this effort, we want to keep you
 informed on key issues and be a source of information about public education in
 New Orleans.

As a member, you will receive updates by way of:
Educate Now! News Clippings: periodic news clippings of select articles
Educate Now! News Alerts: a breaking news based alert service
Leslie's Notebook: a periodic overview and analysis of important issues in our educational
landscape and the impact on students and schools
Welcome to the first edition ofLeslie's Notebook.  The first edition will look at
the 2008 School Performance Scores.

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's. 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 [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=g7ypjucab.0.ijbkjucab.invmuscab.0&ts=S0374&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educatenow.net%2Ffiles%2FBook1.xls]
Learn more about School Peformance Scores and what they mean: SPS Primer [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=g7ypjucab.0.jjbkjucab.invmuscab.0&ts=S0374&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educatenow.net%2Ffiles%2Fsps_primer_2008.pdf]
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So how do we compare post-Katrina?
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Schools are better
Fewer are failing.The percentage of schools that are one star or higher (non-failing)
has increased from 34% to 55%. (Click here if your email does not display the following
graph [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=g7ypjucab.0.kjbkjucab.invmuscab.0&ts=S0374&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educatenow.net%2Ffiles%2FOneStarPlus.pdf]
)
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Cause for Hope
Four K- 8 charter schools in the RSD have demonstrated that we can successfully 
educate poor and minority youth. Phillips KIPP Believe, McDonogh 15 KIPP, and Behrman
Charter School have scores above 90, and along with Dr. MLK Charter School (89.2),
will be 4 of the top performing, non-selective admission schools in the state educating
poor and minority youth. These top performing schools prove it can be done. Our 
challenge is to do it.

We've made significant gains since 2005
Pre-Katrina, New Orleans ranked last in the state with a District Performance Score
of 56.9 compared to a state average of 87.4. In 2008, combining all students and
 schools in the city, New Orleans' effective District Performance Score rose to 
66.4 while the state actually dropped to 87.2.We grew nearly 10 points, while the
state was flat.
( Click here if your email does not display the following graph [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=g7ypjucab.0.ljbkjucab.invmuscab.0&ts=S0374&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educatenow.net%2Ffiles%2FPerformance.pdf]
)

Charters outperformed traditionally operated schools
Of the top 15 schools citywide, 13 were chartered, 2 were traditional. Of the bottom
performing 15 schools, 10 were traditional, and only 5 were chartered.
High Schools need work
New Orleans had the highest performing school in the state, Benjamin Franklin High
School, with a score of 165.2. We also had the lowest scoring school in the state,
Douglass High School, with a score of 16.3.
While the selective admission high schools--like Franklin and Lusher--did very well,
our challenge is to have quality schools for all students. Our open admission high
schools are lagging behind the open admission K-8 schools in both performance and
growth.  ( Click here for Listing of High Schools and Scores [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=g7ypjucab.0.mjbkjucab.invmuscab.0&ts=S0374&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educatenow.net%2Ffiles%2FHigh_schools.xls]
)

The five open admission RSD-operated high schools are the lowest performing high
 schools in the state, and showed little improvement from 2007 with scores ranging
from 16.3 (Douglass) to 30 (Reed). All OPSB-operated high schools are selective 
admission.

The five open admission charter high schools did better, ranging from 48.6 (O Perry
Walker) to 77 (Karr), but their scores still lag behind K-8.
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In closing...

When you factor in Katrina-related stresses and challenges--not the least of which
include many students missing a year of school or dealing with unresolved mental
 health issues--the results of School Performance Scores for New Orleans are impressive.
  But let's not lose sight that much work remains. Too many schools are still underperforming
and our focus must be on continued improvement.

We have an opportunity to transform not just our schools, but the lives of students,
and the future of our city through the education of our children. It's an opportunity
we can't afford to miss.

At Educate Now!, we are firmly committed to making the education reform underway
 effective and sustainable.

And on behalf of Educate Now!, I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.
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Educate Now!
Leslie Jacobs
Founder

Comments?  Please send them tonotebook at educatenow.net [mailto:notebook at educatenow.net]
   And if you are not currently a member of Educate Now! and would like to receive
information from us, please visit our temporary website and sign up atwww.educatenow.net
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