Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Geaux Teacher!: MORE MANIPULATION OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE SCORES

Geaux Teacher!: MORE MANIPULATION OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE SCORES:


MORE MANIPULATION OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE SCORES

If you thought you had no control over school performance scores pre-reform, you can be sure that now that it's going to be nothing but a crap shoot!

The BESE votes were barely counted and the meeting room emptied today before Superintendent White published his latest dictum that includes a re-design for calculating school performance scores. It's anybody's guess what effect this methodology will have on outcomes but my guess is it won't have any positive effect on improving learning outcomes or moving our public schools forward!

I've asked some of my former students to analyze this and give me their take on it. I'll publish if I get any interest.

Louisiana Department of Education

Post Office Box 94064 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9064 | 1-877-453-2721 | Fax: (225) 342-0193


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 04/17/2012
Contact: Rene' Greer, (225) 342-3600, Fax: (225) 342-0193

EDUCATION LEADERS ADVANCE INITIATIVES TO EXPAND

COLLEGE AND CAREER READY OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS


BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana has significantly improved its high schools. A near 10-point gain in the graduation rate over the last decade means tens of thousands of young adults walked the stage, when they might not have years before. Yet measures of college and workplace success reveal our high school graduates are not prepared to meet post-secondary and employer expectations. Louisiana education leaders have said 
correcting this divide and ensuring all students, at every grade level, are on track to attain a college degree or 



VAPID QUOTES!

Senator Elbert L. Guillory - District 24 - during debate in suppot of HB 976 regarding holding private and parochial schools accountable.

"I don't need test scores to tell me if a school is good. I can walk into a school and SEE if it's a good school or not."


We could save a whole lot of money and stress from high stakes testing by hiring Senator Guillory to walk into 

INSIGHT ON FLORIDA'S "REFORM"

Florida Charter School "Boom": Warning Signs
There is a charter boom going on with too many oddities:

1) 15 of 30 "F" schools in Florida are charters. "Then last year in Florida, charter schools received 15 out of 31 of all the failing FCAT grades that went to public schools. Charter elementary and middle schools were seven times more likely to get an F than traditional public schools."
Read full article here. http://www.edreform.com/2012/04/05/charter-schools-must-be-accountable/

2) VP Joe Biden's brother is associated with charter Mavericks HS, which has accounting and performance issues - plus a desire to open 100. Third whistle blower on alleged fraud emerges. Frank Biden has real estate 

SECOND VOUCHER SCHEME CLEARS COMMITTEE

If you think Governor Jindal rapidly pushed through his gold standard reform legislation - HB 976 and HB 974 - just so he could get his reform agenda out of the way, think again!!! The strategy all along has been to create as much attention and tension as we could muster on these two bills then quietly filter through some even more egregious legislation under the radar.

Yesterday, the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee gave its blessing to HB 969 which will allow the state to reimburse private citizens and corporations that contribute to nonprofit groups that award tuition grants. A 9-2 vote sent the measure, modeled after a Florida law that Governor Jeb Bush signed a decade ago, to the Senate floor. (so how's that going for Florida? See my next post.)

Senator Talbot's bill would allow corporations and individuals to give UNLIMITED AMOUNTS of money to independent, nonprofit groups that would, in turn, grant private-school tuition scholarships to students who live in