On the surface, it may not look overly impressive: 48% of 4th graders and 36% of 8th graders in the Recovery School District met the promotional standard on their 2007 LEAP test (among initial test takers). But, a closer look shows that this unprecedented experiment in public education is making significant strides.
The Recovery School District was created as a mechanism for the state to take over chronically failed schools – schools that have been labeled academically unacceptable for many years.
Once in the RSD, a school can be operated by the Department of Education (DOE) or chartered with entities such as colleges or universities, nonprofit organizations or for-profit educational providers. To be approved they must have high-quality instructional plans and sound fiscal and management plans.
For the 2005 school year, six RSD schools had been chartered in Orleans Parish with a mix of universities, independent community groups, and respected national providers. Then Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, causing large-scale devastation and evacuations that shut down the entire school system. What followed was an emergency intervention by the state Legislature and 95% of Orleans Parish schools, all low-performing, were pulled into the state RSD for the next five years, or until they show significant improvement.
These RSD schools faced the daunting tasks of repairing, rebuilding, restocking and re-staffing dozens of previously rundown schools in one year – in a post-disaster environment with shortages of housing, employees and contractors. While doing that, they also had to educate students who were in many cases many grade levels behind where they were supposed to be.
So, it was no big surprise to see in 2006 – the RSD’s first year in operation – passage rates on the state’s LEAP test of 36% for 4th graders and 32% for 8th graders. But it was extremely encouraging to see the significant improvement in student performance after year two: a 12-percentage point increase for 4th graders and a 4-percentage point increase for 8th graders.
Which makes it all the more discouraging to see some in the Legislature trying to stifle the growth of charter schools like those in the RSD, and imply that somehow things were better under the old system. Clearly they weren’t.
It’s also worth noting that charter schools in the rest of the state had a much higher LEAP passage rate than Louisiana’s other public schools: 80% to 76% for 4th graders and 81% to 69% for 8th graders.
Schools in New Orleans still have a long way to go to reach the levels where they need to be. But measurable progress is being made. Rather than seeking to undermine the innovations that are taking place in Louisiana’s Recovery School District and charter schools in other areas lawmakers should embrace them. That is if they are truly interested in the children.
To see the LEAP scores for all school districts, click HERE.