Latest News and Comment from Education

Showing posts with label LOUISIANA EDUCATION. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LOUISIANA EDUCATION. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

A parent’s plea – Educate Louisiana

A parent’s plea. – Educate Louisiana
A Parent’s Plea



When I first decided to advocate for education policy, it was my hope that I could educate the public (parents, teachers, students, etc.) about education policy, and how it affects them. There has been instances when my writings drilled down to specific school districts, but I have always tried to address issues by providing specific statutes and/or policies that, if followed, would eliminate the issue. In recent years, I have been pulled away from advocacy by the needs of my own family, a pandemic, two hurricanes, an ice age, and now, a 100 year flood. When this parent reached out to me, I realized that there are so many things wrong about this incident that the only way I could help is to make sure that as many people as possible hear about it.

Below you will find the letter written to me by a parent that I am publishing with their permission. It is long. It is hard to read. And it is heart-breaking. Fair warning, it contains profanity, but it is relevant to the incident. My intent is not to generate racist comments, or for people to taking black or white positions. This is about the fine line between handling issues that occur out of school when they cross over into school, and how a failure to take into consideration the behaviors of others that drive a student into a corner and ultimately lashes out. But more importantly, the right for every child to receive an education in a safe and loving environment. Please share.

This letter is in regards to our son, Sam McCarley, a 6th grade student at Sherwood Middle School. 

Our hell started on April 27th… Actually it had been growing up to that point, but, that was the day that it all exploded, and the CONTINUE READING: A parent’s plea. – Educate Louisiana

A Scholarly Masterpiece: William Frantz Public School | tultican #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

A Scholarly Masterpiece: William Frantz Public School | tultican
A Scholarly Masterpiece: William Frantz Public School




By Thomas Ultican 4/18/2021

My wonderful friend from New Orleans, Mercedes Schneider, said of this meticulously researched book, “Intense, captivating, and horrible in its reality, William Frantz Public School is a story overdue for the telling – a must read for those seeking to understand New Orleans’ history and the lingering impact of White racial superiority upon the Black community and city infrastructure.” I concur. It is a captivating read.

At its 1938 founding, speakers proclaimed the new William Frantz Public School (WFPS) a “protection for democracy” and a “fortification against encroachment of those terrible ‘isms.’” (WFPS page 3)

However, racism did not just encroach; it dominated. WFPS was built to be a White students only school. Sitting on the border between the all white Florida neighborhood and the all Black Desire neighborhood, WFPS only served the White families. Worse still; the authors report,

“The Orleans Parish School Board built no schools between 1941 and 1951. As a result, existing neighborhood schools throughout the city faced overcrowding. The problem was particularly acute in Desire. Due to the severe overcrowding, many Black children attended school for only a fraction of the time as their White peers living in the Florida neighborhood.” (WFPS 9)

With the Brown versus the Board of education decision in 1954, the Supreme Court declared racial segregation as a school enrollment policy unconstitutional. Louisiana segregationists quickly coalesced to become leaders of their state’s CONTINUE READING: A Scholarly Masterpiece: William Frantz Public School | tultican

Friday, May 7, 2021

The Testing Game, Louisiana-style | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

The Testing Game, Louisiana-style | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog
The Testing Game, Louisiana-style



Let’s say that I am at the end of my freshman year of high school in Louisiana. I must take two Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) exams: English I and Algebra I. So long as I minimally pass these exams (“approaching basic”), I am good for graduation three years from now. Furthermore, my state exam score counts as my final exam in the class (between 15 and 30 percent of my fourth quarter grade, according to state specifications; see below).

If I score the highest level on my LEAP exams (“advanced”), then I get an A as an exam grade. If I score the second highest level (“mastery”), I get a B. The third level, “basic,” gets me a C, and the fourth (and lowest passing) level, “approaching basic,” earns a D.

Given that the state exams last between 225 and 260 minutes each, I might zoom through my LEAP test, aiming, if you will, for  CONTINUE READING: The Testing Game, Louisiana-style | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Friday, April 23, 2021

Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog
Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not.



Standardized testing is set to commence in schools and districts across the state of Louisiana.

What does this mean regarding the now-common misuse of scores for grading teachers and schools and for student placement decisions?

Some answers can be found in two pieces of legislation passed in the Louisiana legislature’s 2020 Special Extraordinary Session (September 28, 2020 to October 23, 2020): Act 53 and Act 47. However, some of those “some answers” are better defined than others.

Below is the heart of Act 53:

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the2020-2021 school year, the board (Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE) shall examine the results from student assessments and school-level test data but shall not use such assessments and data for purposes of evaluating teacher performance or making placement decisions for fourth and eighth grade students.

And lest anyone should miss the “shall not use assessments and data for purposes of evaluating teacher performance,” language is included specific to VAM (so-called “value-added” modeling) (and subsequently repeated in the section pertaining to charter school employees):

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the 2020-2021 school year, value-added data shall not be used to evaluate teacher performance or effectiveness.

As for the grading of schools and districts using test scores from 2020-21, the CONTINUE READING: Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots” | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots” | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog
Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots”




On March 30, 2021, a new ed-reform kid on the top-down block, Parents Defending Education, introduced itself to the public on Twitter as follows:

“Launch today.” That sounds very new– and very odd because this org purports to do the nonsensical– “build a grassroots army of parents.”

Grassroots is not “built” from the top down. But a new ed-reform org surely could exploit the term “grassroots” by having members in different locales so that it might engage in litigation in the name of a local, “grassroots” interest.

That is just what this come-lately ed-reform group appears to have done.

Eight days prior to announcing its “launch” on Twitter– on March 22, 2021– Parents Defending Education had already stepped into a New York education lawsuit about high school integration, positioning itself as eligible to “intervene as a defendant”— and making it sound as though the org– here identified as a nonprofit– is an established grassroots org– and therefore having a right to CONTINUE READING: Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots” | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Saturday, March 13, 2021

John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog
John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now?



John White’s time as Louisiana state superintendent officially ended on March 12, 2020, after eight years of his wreaking opaque, ed-reform havoc on Louisiana public education.

Two years prior to his exit, in June 2018, White co-founded an education nonprofit, Propel America. However, according to the April 30, 2019, Advocate, he never mentioned to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) that he co-founded a nonprofit– even as his nonprofit was piloting its career path product in Louisiana.

Propel America has the following mission statement:

Propel brings together high schools, community colleges, and employers in a unified system of skill-building, job placement, and ongoing planning for young adults. The model includes a “core course” in or directly after high school, in which students determine their job pathway and begin to prepare for it. Propel then covers the cost of job training, pays a modest stipend, provides mentorship and support, and guarantees a job interview for any “Propel fellow” who successfully completes their training. This process empowers recent high school graduates with the skills, credentials, experiences, and social networks to attain a well-paying job within one year, with opportunities for advancement and higher education. 

That’s a lot of effort to drop the ball with a promise of only a single job interview, but it sure reads impressive if one glosses over this critical, weak link. But back to White and some other “fellows,” if you will. 

On December 17, 2019, Lousiana Department of Education (LDOE) assistant superintendent of policy and governmental affairs, Erin Bendily, left LDOE to go work for White’s nonprofit. The LDOE press release downplayed White’s role (“a CONTINUE READING: John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Saturday, March 6, 2021

SPOTLIGHT BLOG OF THE WEEK DEUTCH29 MERCEDES K. SCHNEIDER

 



My Complete, Unedited Review of Doug Harris’ Book, Charter School City
In January 2020, Commonweal Magazine asked me to review Doug Harris’ book about New Orleans charter schools, Charter School City. I completed my review in February 2020, but with the pandemic, my review was not published until November 2020. As so often happens in publication, the review I submitted was pared down considerably, which editors […]
Biden Admin Wants “to Focus on Assessments” in 2020-21
On February 22, 2021, acting ed secretary Ian Rosenblum (formerly of testing-friendly ed reform org, Education Trust) sent this letter to state school superintendents informing them that standardized testing must happen in the 2020-21 school year “to understand the impact COVID-19 has had on learning and identify what resources and supports students need” and “to […]
LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATION
On February 18, 2021, Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, announced that as of Monday, February 22, 2021, teachers and all other K12 school staff, daycare workers, and others have the green light to receive COVID-19 vaccines: Starting Mon., Feb. 22, teachers & support staff working at K-12 schools & daycares, non-emergency medical transportation staff, pregnant […]
If Schools are That Important, Vaccinate All School Personnel in Short Order
I read in the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) latest guidance for schools that it believes schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen in the pandemic. I read about how important schools are, how school attendance is critical for students’ well being, and how schools are important because schools feed […]
Biden School Reopening Plan Now Has a Survey
In December 2020, President Biden pledged to reopen most schools in his first 100 days in office– dependent upon sufficient resources to protect students and staff during the Coronavirus pandemic. Months later, in February 2021, the Biden administration is catching flack for a seriously modified version of that pledge– 51 percent of K-8 schools open […]
About That JAMA Article on COVID Transmission and Reopening Schools
On January 26, 2021, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published this “viewpoint” regarding COVID-19 and in-poerson school attendance, entitled, “Data and Policy to Guide Opening Schools Safely to Limit the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.” It seems that in the press, the conclusion of this study has been reduced to the convenient byte, […]
Marjorie Taylor Greene Removed from House Ed Committee
On February 04, 2021, the House of Representatives voted 230-199 to remove Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments (Education and Labor, and Budget). Eleven Republicans joined 219 Democrats in supporting Greene’s committee removal: Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) John Katko (R-NY) Fred Upton (R-MI) Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) Chris […]
Meet the New Republican Members of the House Ed and Labor Committee
The big news of late is that Q Anon-espousing, school-shooting-conspiracy-spewing, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been assigned to (of all things) the House Education and Labor Committee for the 117th Congress. I was curious about the other new members of Ed and Labor, so I thought I’d do
deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog | Mostly Education; a Smattering of Politics & Pinch of Personal