Test scores

With the hoopla from the test scores release last week, readers might not have seen that that we've uploaded scores from DeSoto, Webster, Bossier, and of course Caddo.

Here are the databases:

Fourth grade LEAP

Click here to load this Caspio Online Database app.

Eighth grade LEAP

Click here to load this Caspio Online Database app.

High school GEE scores

Click here to load this Caspio Online Database app.

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RT2 round 2, count Louisiana in

There is a lot of talk in the education world about which states are applying for round two of the federally funded Race to the Top program.

Today is the deadline for states to apply for more than $3.4 billion geared toward education reform. In round one, Louisiana ranked 11th out of the 40 states that applied, plus the District of Columbia.

Winners will be announced in September.

Here are the Louisiana school districts participating in Race to the Top:
Ascension
Assumption
Avoyelles
City of Baker
City of Bogalusa
City of Monroe
DeSoto
East Baton Rouge
East Carroll
East Feliciana
Iberville
Jefferson Parish
Lafayette Parish
Lafourche Parish
Madison
Orleans
Recovery School District
Richland
Sabine
St. Bernard
St. Helena
St. John the Baptist
St. Landry
St. Mary
Tangipahoa Parish
Terrebonne
Vernon
West Baton Rouge
This list also includes Linear Leadership Academy and Linwood Public Charter School in Shreveport and other charter schools throughout the state.

Read more about the state's application:
http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/comm/pressrelease.aspx?PR=1422
http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/03/03292010.html
http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/newblog/index_bak.html

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Legislative Update for week starting May 31

The following bills are scheduled to be heard on the Senate Floor on June 2 at 1:00pm:

HB 46 - Hutter - Requires public school governing authorities to provide 7th -12th grade students enrolled in Health Education classes with age- and grade-appropriate classroom instruction relative to dating violence.  Also provides guidelines for such instruction.

HB 97 - Cortez - Current law forbids anyone less than 15 years of age from participating in any component of a private driver's education class but allows students in 9th grade or above to participate in the classroom portions of such programs offered by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE). Proposed law would allow students in 9th grade or above and within 90 days of their 15th birthday to participate in the classroom sections of private driver's education classes, as well as those offered by BESE and LDOE.

HB 251 - P. Smith - Requires the State Superintendent of Education, at a minimum, to possess at the time of appointment, the qualifications adopted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to be a superintendent in a local school district. The bill also authorizes BESE to establish additional qualifications for the State Superintendent.

HB 388 - P. Smith - Current policy allows teachers to take a leave of absence of up to three years to teach at a charter school.  During that three-year period, teachers would have the right to return to the district at any time.  This bill removes the leave of absence provision from law.

HB 519 - Cortez - Prohibits retirees from receiving retirement benefits from the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) during reemployment unless such retirees are reemployed as classroom teachers in grades K through 12 in the areas of mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, or special education.

HB 556 - Wooton - Eliminates present law prohibiting the carrying of a concealed handgun within 1,000 feet of a school.  The proposed law would allow any holder of a concealed handgun permit to carry his/her handgun within 1,000 feet of a school while retaining the ban on concealed handguns in school buildings, on school property, or in a school bus.

HB 580 - P. Smith - Designates the Louisiana School for the Deaf, the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, and the Louisiana Special Education Center as "Board Special Schools" under the jurisdiction of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; authorizes such schools to share services and functions under certain conditions; and allows children with orthopedic impairments to enroll in such schools.

HB 974 - Hoffmann - Allows an applicant who has met other requirements and has one year successful employment as an assistant principal in a Louisiana public school to be excluded from Praxis requirements.  Currently, Louisiana waives Praxis requirements for an individual who has previously served as an out-of-state principal for at least four years and who has been successfully employed in Louisiana as a principal f or at least one year.  This legislation would extend this waiver to assistant principals who meet these qualifications as well.   

HB 1029 - Hoffmann - Deletes a course on Free Enterprise as a prerequisite to high school graduation and instead requires that Free Enterprise instruction be included in Civics.  Expands the Civics requirement to one full year (except students who have already taken Civics and/or Free Enterprise). Makes the same changes to the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) and other provisions.

HB 1093 - Fannin - Requires the Recovery School District to receive approval from the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget for capital expenses and changes orders f or contracts that exceed $100,000.

HB 1180 - P. Smith - Permits local public school boards to use state funds to purchase instructional technology and related hardware.

SB 66- Morrel - Requires each charter school to give preference in its enrollment procedures to students residing within the neighborhood immediately surrounding the school, the geographic boundaries of which shall be determined by the school's chartering authority.  Also requires charter schools to enroll no fewer than 30 percent of its students from within the boundaries of this area.

SB 391- Chaisson - Increases the amount of reductions of appropriations/allocations from the state general fund and dedicated funds in any fiscal year in which these two conditions occur: (1) a deficit is projected and (2) reductions of at least seven-tenths of 1 percent in appropriations from the state general fund have already occurred. The proposed constitutional amendment increases the amount of reductions of appropriations or allocations from 5 percent to 10 percent.

SB 392- Chaisson - Increases the amount of reductions of appropriations/allocations from the state general fund and dedicated funds in any fiscal year in which these two conditions occur: (1) a deficit is projected and (2) reductions of at least seven-eighths of 1 percent in appropriations from the state general fund have already occurred. The proposed constitutional amendment increases the amount of reduc tions of appropriations or allocations from 5 percent up to 10 percent.

SB 701 - Marionneaux - Requires persons who do not graduate from high school to serve a minimum of two years in the armed forces.

The following bills are scheduled for debate in the House Education Committee on June 3 at 9:00am:

HB 682 - Hardy - Requires a local school board to provide transportation to suspended or expelled students who remain under its jurisdiction in Board of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved alternative education programs.

SB 509 - Long - Includes the Louisiana S chool for Math, Science, and the Arts in the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), classifying it as a public secondary education institution for the purposes of the MFP formula.

SB 568- L. Jackson - Authorizes training and instruction for school board members received at any conference presented by the National School Boards Association or by any regional school board association to meet pre-established professional development requirements.

The following bills are scheduled for debate in the House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs on June 3 at 9:00am:

SB 743 - Broome - Revises the selection process for members nominated by school clubs and community organizations to the Legislative Yo uth Advisory Council and extends the deadline for that Council to submit an annual report to the governor from February 15 to May 30.

The following bills are scheduled to be heard on the House Floor on June 3 at 2:00pm:

HB 565 - Hardy - School bus drivers, whose first date of employment with the school system is July 1, 2010, or thereafter, will not be eligible for tenure (becoming permanent employees).

SB 302 - Appel - In addition to current performance labels given to public schools and school districts, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will adopt a letter-grade system corresponding to school and district performance scores. For example, a top-performing school would get an "A ."

SB 344 - Duplessis - Lengthens and revises the process that guides local districts in the review of charter school proposals.

The following bills are due for final passage on the House floor, subject to call:

HB 257 - Harrison  - Requires local school boards to spend at least five percent of their gross proceeds collected from extracurricular athletic activities and programs to fund academic tutoring for student athletes in grades 5-12.

HB 1014 - Norton - Requires local school boards to provide planning time to each teacher -- a minimum of 30 minutes for lunch each day that is duty-free and a minimum of 45 minutes daily or its weekly equivalent. These planning times and lunch periods will not result in a longer school day. Current law states that the availability of state funding for this purpose is a condition for the effectiveness of the present law. This proposed measure removes the funding requirement of present law.

SB 298- Donahue - Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to broadcast its meetings over the internet and to archive such broadcasts.

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Value added Louisiana?

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed HB 1033 into law yesterday. That legislation establishes a value added model in the state, tying student test scores with teacher evaluations.


This isn’t the first time that those with decision making power over education have thought about this. There have long been discussions to linking student achievement with teacher salaries as a way to compensate the teachers that have done well and to identify the ones who are not effective.


At its fundamental core—tracking student and teacher success—education gurus agree it’s a good idea. How to execute that idea, however, has always been a point of contention between those in the classroom and those in governing rooms.


But Jackie Lansdale, president of the Caddo Federation of Teachers and Support Personnel, thinks this plan isn’t the best execution.


“It’s not really value added. Value added is when you provide incentives. This is punitive.”
For teachers, Lansdale said, there is a lack of incentives with the law. Teachers being allowed to keep their jobs is not an incentive and creates a problem.


“This is the stick without the carrot. You’re going to base my evaluation on that? There are some schools that they will refuse to go to if they value their career."


Specifically Lansdale said schools with large numbers of low socio-economic children. It’s easier to teach at a school where children are better prepared and therefore will have increased test scores. But schools with a high poverty rate have student who are more difficult to teach. Why? Challenges such as low parental involvement and few resources.


Cedric Choyce, president of the Caddo Association of Educators, agrees. 

"Basically what you have here now is people trying to move from school not performing well to those that are," he said adding that Louisiana will now become a training ground for Texas. 

Choyce, who teaches at Booker T. Washington in Shreveport, also brought up another point. What about teachers who teach electives.

"What are you going to do to measure my effectiveness," he said. "You have all these students that are from different backgrounds how are you going to do that."

So what' the solution?


“Teachers sent (Buddy) Roemer home, it’s time for teachers to send Jindal home,” Lansdale said.

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Podcasting live...sort of

Nicole and I are getting ready to produce our second podcast relatively soon.

So we're putting the question out to our readers...what would you guys like for us to talk about during the podcast?

Let us know!

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Taking a quick look at the Caddo elementary school results

Man, there's a lot of elementary schools in Caddo.

That means that there's a lot to talk about. So let's begin with English/language arts.

Caddo fourth graders had difficulty in the subject with more than half of the schools decreasing the percentage of students who earned basic or above on the state exam. This was a tough subject with some percentage decreases in the double digits including, Pine Grove (from 92 percent last year to 59 percent this year), Timmons (from 61 percent last year to 44 percent this year), Queensborough (from 60 percent last year to 43 percent this year), and Caddo Heights (49 percent last year, 31 percent this year.)

There were some bright spots:

Central, Hosston Alternative, Mooringsport, and Claiborne percentage of students passing the exam is in the double digits. Leading the pack, Hosston Alternative with 30 percentage points over last year, Central with 23 percentage points, and Mooringsport and Caliborne with 17 percentage points each.

Caddo fourth graders did only slightly better in Math. Caddo Heights, Mooretown, and Timmons had large decreases in the percentage of students testing basic and above on the test. Timmons took the biggest dip going from 73 percent to 48 percent.

Some took a double digit increase. Oak Park increase 36 percentage points.

Other big increases: Claiborne, Judson and Mooringsport.

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Taking a quick look at the Caddo middle school results

The Caddo middle school data is showing a different pattern than the high school data -- English is a much more difficult subject than math.

The results from the state shows that 11 out of 15 schools decreased the percentage of students scoring basic and above in English.

More of Caddo's 8th graders were prepared for the math portion of the test this year. Only seven of the 15 schools showed a percentage decrease.

But when it comes to science and social studies, Caddo eighth graders did better than last year. Only six out of 15 school showed decreases.

Some of the bright spots from the middle school data are:

Bethune's 12 percentage point increase in Science.

Caddo Middle Career increasing 11 percentage points in both science and social studies

Donnie Bickham's 12 percentage point increase in math.

Hosston Alternative School's 36 percentage point increase in math

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