New Orleans school changes worked, Cowen Institute says
Cowen Institute says the National Study of CMO Effectiveness aims to fill the gap in systematic evidence about CMOs, providing the first rigorous nationwide examination of CMOs’ effects on students’ achievement and attainment. The study includes an examination of the relationships between the practices of individual CMOs and their effects on student achievement, with the aim of providing useful guidance to the field. Mathematica Policy Research and the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) are conducting the study with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation and project management assistance from the NewSchools Venture Fund. This updated edition of the report provides key findings from the study on CMO practices, impacts, and the relationships between them. A forthcoming report will explore promising practices in greater depth.
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, have New Orleans' massive education changes worked? Tulane's Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives issued its answer in a Wednesday (June 17) report:
"The academic performance of New Orleans' schools has improved remarkably over the past 10 years," authors Patrick Sims and Vincent Rossmeier write in the anniversary edition of the institute's annual evaluation.
Before the storm, only one parish in the state did worse.
In the months after the disaster, the state took over all but about 15 of the city's 120-plus public schools and began turning them into independently run charters. Most of the schools left under local control became charters too. The city stopped assigning students to neighborhood schools and allowed everyone to choose where to go.
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Now the city has climbed all the way up to ... average. In 2014, it earned a C on the state report card. The percentage of students attending schools that perform above the Louisiana average has almost doubled – to 31 percent, according to the report.
The on-time graduation rate went from 56 percent in 2004 to 73 percent last year, the authors write. Due to the disruption of Katrina, the state did not immediately calculate a New Orleans graduation rate for the Class of 2005, but officials later went back and did so.
Public schools are becoming more popular, especially among white families who fled the system after desegregation. From 2006-2012, white enrollment in private schools increased by 1.5 percent – compared to a 38 percent increase in public school enrollment. From 93 percent African American before the storm, the city's schools are now 84 percent black, 7 percent white and 5 percent Hispanic, according to the report.
| New Orleans public school enrollment by race/ethnicity | ||
| 2004-05 | 2014-15 | |
| Black | 93.2% | 84.2% |
| White | 3.6 | 7.2 |
| Asian | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Hispanic | 1.2 | 5.1 |
| Other | 0.1 | 1.8 |
| Source: Cowen Institute | ||
The authors say "most would agree" with their assessment. Not mentioned in the report is a vocal minority of critics, such as national charter opponent Diane Ravitch, who accuse administrators of cooking the books.
For instance, in a 2014 state audit, the Recovery School District couldn't provide the records to prove a sample of transfer students didn't just drop out. The same happened in this year's audit, according to data the Education Department recently provided to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
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Some also question whether test scores show true intellectual growth. Former Loyola professor Andre Perry is among those who say the public school revolution has not yet contributed enough to general community economic development.
Not all students have benefited equally. The Tulane report has ample data to show the persistent divide between the Orleans Parish schools -- mostly schools that were never taken over, plus a few new charters – and the takeover schools.
It's well known that Orleans Parish schools enroll different students from the generally lower-scoring Recovery charters: more white, fewer poor, fewer disabled. They also have teachers and administrators with more education and more experience, and they spend more per student, according to the report.
| Teacher education and experience, 2013-14 | ||||
| OPSB charter | OPSB direct-run | RSD | BESE | |
| Teacher years of experience | 11.6 | 17.1 | 7.1 | 4.9 |
| Administrator years of experience | 16.2 | 13.4 | 8.3 | 9.7 |
| % of teachers with post-baccalaureate degrees | 61% | 48% | 26% | 29% |
| Student : teacher ratio | 16 : 1 | 15 : 1 | 19 : 1 | 13 : 1 |
| Source: Cowen Institute | ||||
Forty-two percent of Orleans Parish students posted scores that showed they were truly proficient in the subject, compared to 12 percent of Recovery students, the New Orleans school changes worked, Cowen Institute says | NOLA.com:
