Check out Al Fan’s OpEd in this morning’s Pioneer Press.
Archive for January, 2010
Al Fan OpEd. It’s about the Achievement Gap
Friday, January 29th, 2010Post Katrina New Orleans. 60% of Schools Now Charter
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Blogging New Orleans 2.
After a tour of KIPP’s Central City K-8 program (more later), I took a trip to the Lower 9th Ward. I was not really prepared for what is still the aftermath of Katrina. As a former Director of Planning and Economic Development for St. Paul, I was trying to put my arms and head around the scope of the ongoing challenge. Yes, many new redevelopment projects are ongoing and there is reason for hope, but here are some of the sights that one encounters.
The entrance to the now famous Lower 9th Ward.
And a whole lot of this
In parts of the Lower 9th Ward, one gets the feel of almost an abandoned rural town. Then go two blocks in any direction and the landscape becomes more urban and busy.
Block after block have an abandoned feel.
Sometimes you see this. A new rebuilt next to what has to be a condemned house.
New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) was the New Orleans area largest school district before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August 2005, damaging or destroying more than 100 of the district’s 128 school buildings. NOPS served approximately 65,000 students pre-Katrina. now it has approximately 35,000 students. For decades prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, the New Orleans public school system was widely recognized as the lowest performing school district in Louisiana and even nationally. According to researchers Carl L. Bankston and Stephen J. Caldas, only 12 of the 103 public schools then in operation within the city limits of New Orleans showed reasonably good performance.
Here’s a USA Today piece on the success and improvement of the New Orleans district.
More later.
Brian.
Blogging New Orleans. Al & Brian
Monday, January 25th, 2010Okay, Al and I are heading out. Yep, we’re bloggin’. Turning up Willy’s version of City of New Orleans real loud like and heading to The Big Easy. No, not to seek revenge for the Vikings lost but to learn a little about one of the most compelling transformations in the history of urban education. Check out this USA Today article on charter schools in New Orleans.
Specifically, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is conducting a “Master Class” on Charter School Closures, with some of the nation’s leading educators, charter school leaders and policy experts. We’ll also get a chance to visit some of the highest performing inner city schools in the country.
Okay, then. Al wanted to fly instead of hopping the freight — one of my sins from a youthful time not on my vitae (Oh God, I hope my son is not reading this). So, stay tune.
In the meantime, for those who prefer Arlo’s version, here it is.
Brian.
Perspective
Thursday, January 14th, 2010A couple of interesting articles in today’s press.
This morning’s Pioneer Press’ balanced editorial Keeping Cool on Charter Schools does a nice job of putting the recent sensationalist headlines about charter schools from the cross-town rival in perspective.
Also, a new report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (click this link to access full report) released today ranked Minnesota the most charter friendly state in the nation (see article). Again, despite Minnesota’s challenges, we have an excellent environment that will allow us to take the next step in the evolution of the charter movement — replicating successful, high achieving charter schools that will help us close one of the nation’s largest achievement gaps.
Joe Nathan: YES for Charters: Results, with Accountability
Monday, January 11th, 2010After a recent flurry of negative headlines regarding charter schools, charter advocate Joe Nathan, who directs Macalester College’s Center for School Change, helps puts things in perspective with his Sunday, January 10th Minneapolis Star Tribune Op-Ed that states “chartering has helped individualize, innovate and improve public education.”
Joe’s piece includes the following:
Charter schools have introduced innovations such as the state’s first Chinese immersion public school, the state’s first public secondary Montessori school, an arts high school which shares a downtown performing arts center, and several schools where special needs students have reached unprecedented levels of success.
Charters have also spurred change within districts, such as new schools which mirror proposed charters; all-day kindergartens; and “site-governed” schools. Strong oversight has played a role: about 30 of Minnesota’s charters have been closed. Charter enrollment in Minnesota has tripled in the last seven years. Three of Minnesota’s six best public high schools in the Twin Cities, according to U.S. News & World Report, were charters. Six of 10 public schools described as “Beating the Odds” by the Star Tribune, with more than 80% low-income students, were charters.
New Stanford CREDO Report that NYC Charters Outperform Counterparts
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010A new Stanford University NYC-2009-CREDO documents how NYC Charter schools are outperforming its public counterparts. The findings are attracting a lot of attention because they come from a Stanford University research group that issued a critical national study of charter schools last June. The report found that New York City’s black and Hispanic students in charter schools do “significantly” better in both reading and math than those in traditional public schools. Here are a couple of press articles on the study.
The success of the New York City charter sector (please note previous NYC Blogs) is going to be extremely important with the Race to the Top discussion in the coming months. Stay tuned.