‘F’ school students learning of school options

The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is in the process of notifying families with children enrolled in schools with F grades about schools with better letter grades to which they can transfer.

Families with children in 14 Baton Rouge public schools are being given 44 higher-performing alternatives to choose from. That’s up from four schools with eight options a year ago.

The numbers of students eligible for a school transfer is rising as well, from about 3,600 last year to at least 8,800 students.

The reason for the increase is the state raised the minimum school performance score needed to escape an F grade from 65 to 75. The maximum possible school performance score is 200.

Here are the 14 schools with students eligible for transfers: Claiborne, Capitol, Delmont, Howell Park, Park, Melrose, Merrydale, and Winbourne elementaries; Broadmoor, Capitol, Mayfair and Park Forest middle schools; and Belaire and Glen Oaks high schools.

Six F schools are alternative or charter schools where parents choose to send their children and therefore aren’t given new options.

Elementary and high school families are getting four choices each. At the elementary level, the four choices are different for each school. Belaire and Glen Oaks high school families have three high schools to choose from.

Lee High, which recently reopened with just a ninth and a 10th grade, is a fourth choice for both Belaire and Glen Oaks high schools.

The middle schools all have the same six options for student transfers.

“We are trying to be as broad as we possible can,” said Susan Wolfe, who oversees school choice for the school system. “The idea is to give people as much choice as we can. It’s hard at the middle school level because there’s just not that many seats.”

New state-developed school choice rules allow school districts to take a school’s capacity into account when deciding where to offer choice — something a school district couldn’t do in the past.

The number of eligible families actually choosing to transfer out of low-performing schools has been low through the years.

Last year, only 222 students transferred, less than 1 percent of those eligible.

Automated phone calls went out last weekend and letters with details about the program were mailed out Thursday. Families have until Aug. 24 to apply and will be notified of the schools their children can transfer to by Aug. 31. They need to complete the transfer by Sept. 14.

The school system delayed notifying eligible families for almost two weeks as it sought to clarify conflicting memos school officials had received from the state and federal government, sparking doubts about whether federal Title 1 money could still be used to pay for the program.

School choice for students at low-performing public schools was instituted in 2002 with the enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Louisiana took greater control over school choice rules earlier this summer when it successfully earned a waiver from No Child Left Behind.

On July 31, federal officials assured the school system that it could continue to use Title 1 money.

For more information about East Baton Rouge Parish’s school choice options: http://federalprograms.ebrschools.org/explore.cfm/nochildleftbehind/academicchoice/

Comments

1) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 15/08/2012

Almost forgot... Comer's 90/90/90 schools, each of which only met one academic criteria (90 % minority, yes, 90 % qualifying for free or reduced meal prices, yes.... BUT when it came to 90% meeting high academic achievement.... it was enough if, within the entire school.... one grade, one subject was enough to meet this requirement.) did not have much longevity And within a few years, not ONE of the 90/90/90 schools still made the list. As far as school-wide achievement , Louisiana in 2007 had NO 90/90/90 schools in reading and math.... in fact, in research I did that year, LA had NO 75/75/75 schools, with the exception of one school in New Orleans, elementary, with impressive results, to say the least. Then I found out that it was admitting students only on the basis of academic achievement, testing Kindergarden students even! (They had to produce, on demand, a writing sample.)

2) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 15/08/2012

ScottB, I remember a conference where Dr. Lee Shulman was presenting at a major session on how his group had examined successful teachers in order to develop what later became known as National Board Certification criteria. He went on and on about how they determined what the characteristics were in the teaching practices of "highly effective teachers. I asked a very simple (I thought) question at the end. He stumbled on the answer. He had said they started with teachers who were generally accepted as being the best teachers in the schools, or districts. I asked, how did they determine the "best teachers." How did they define the learning that was being sought? In so much of the research on "effective" schools the researchers actually fail to understand a basic question, and that is, are they simply assuming that the aggregate of the "affect" that they measure actually represents the "cause" of the results? Let me give you an example. A friend and I have been looking carefully at KIPP schools for many, many years. You say, in your posting, "The KIPP project is a proven one. It takes a strong leader to make it happen and change the culture of a whole school. Once done, it becomes easier to attract those high performing teachers again, also. " Let me question your assumptions here, in a way that we can agree, perhaps, to explore. First, you talk about a strong leader "changing the culture." Yet, when I first had to question KIPP schools as a policy maker on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, I found that the KIPP leader who was speaking to us had not even entertained the following question. "Does KIPP fundamentally 'create' a common culture, or does it begin with the basics of that culture already in place.?" Any student choosing KIPP schools does so with some fundamentals already in place. (I wish I could use bold and italics on here!) For example, what I pointed out that night was this. Any students (and parents) choosing KIPP were electing to attend school for extra hours every day, and extra days every week, along with a summer component. They were agreeing to extra responsibilities for parents, and a commitment to hard academic effort (and homework) on the part of the student. Now, taken together, this commitment (which I have no problem with, by the way) represents the basics of the "culture" you and KIPP speak of. I am NOT pretending that everyone understands this when they sign up, BUT, the basics are in fact in place. I offered KIPP the chance to "prove" that they were "creating" the culture by taking over Prescott Middle School and convincing the parents and students there that KIPP offered them the best hope for academic success. KIPP ran! KIPP has been running ever since. Let me explain what I mean. KIPP has tried, numerous times over the intervening years, to take over an existing school for districts, much like I invited them to do here in BR. THEY HAVE NEVER SUCCEEDED. My major point is this... in all the research we have done on KIPP schools, the evidence points to removing students who don't "fit" the culture, and there is little evidence that KIPP actually produces, in any real way, the "culture" you represent them as producing. It either comes with the students, or those students without it are counseled out. The basis of the social and academic acceptance of the very important cultural characteristics you mention (customs, expectations) occur in the first few years of life for most children. More and more brain research is supporting this notion. Can we change children, over time. Of course. Do we have evidence of schools doing it. Not really. Would love to talk sometime! I like your comments here, and hope to hear from you. [e-mail] if you want to write me. Thanks.

3) Comment by ScotB - 13/08/2012

I've been talking a lot lately about culture. In 2006, the World Bank sponsored a report entitled "Where is the Wealth of Nations?" It was subtitled "measuring capital for the 21st century". It finds that in the United States, natural capital (soil, oil, minerals, etc) and produced capital (manufactured products, infrastructure, etc) are combined 18% of the wealth. 82% is intangible capital (laws, respect for law, skills, customs, expectations). The best teacher in the world, working in the finest building in the world, with the best technology in the world, and the greatest textbooks in the world cannot help a student with low expectations, no respect for authority, no desire to conform to societal norms, and no desire to learn. Let me take a moment to ask a question, "How many top tier teachers would elect to teach in a school that has a predominance of this kind of student?" Everyone wants job satisfaction and there is not much to be had in such a school. So, as a rule, the best teachers go elsewhere.....leaving the least effective teachers with the least effective students. A guaranteed "F" in the making. Dr. Comer's fundamental idea is that you first have to change the child's behavior and expectations. He's right. It's a kind of tough love. The KIPP project is a proven one. It takes a strong leader to make it happen and change the culture of a whole school. Once done, it becomes easier to attract those high performing teachers again, also.

4) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 12/08/2012

Continuing, I will now answer the question about why the demographics of the schools labeled as 'F' by the state's totally ridiculous accountability system should be examined. When I pointed out to officials that the schools being taken over by the state were 98% minority and had 98% of the students qualifying for free meals it was to preface a question. My question was: " has the state or the Recovery School District examined these patterns to see what underlying factors are resulting in this pattern." Instead of an answer, I was attacked as somehow saying that minority children from low income homes could not achieve. While realizing this "knee-jerk" reaction continues today, I again point out that I am NOT making this claim AT ALL! In fact, I am pointing out that these patterns exist, and the state and RSD SHOULD BE examining why the pattern exists. I have. And they won't listen. And most people don't want to hear it, or think about it. But this pattern exists for this reason. Poverty does, in fact, impact student achievement in incredibly powerful ways, that we can't just sweep under the rug. We have to talk about them. Discuss them, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM! What is the response of policy-makers and so-called "reformers" to the impact of poverty? First, they never, every really grapple with it, other than meaningless statements about how "poverty is the reason for reform." Or how we "must, of course, take actions to limit the effects of poverty. " Or a very common approach, now codified in many states, and started here in Louisiana by Paul Pastorek specifically in response to my question to him at a Board Meeting is to try and use an anecdote to "prove" the invalidity of a pattern. The question was, had he ever heard about Dr. Comer's 90/90/90 schools and could he name a single one in Louisiana. He did not know of the schools, or of the fact that none of the schools remained on the list (90 % of the students qualified for free or reduced price meals, 90% were minority, and 90% passed the tests.) Superintendent Pastorek began the High Performing/High Poverty (HPHP) Schools initiative to show me I was wrong. (I simply asked him a question, yet he told others the classic "he seems to think that poor children can't learn." The 2011 HPHP report was filled with schools that didn't even meet the average percents of minority and school "poverty" he claimed, and many schools, like the three in Baton Rouge on the list, were selective admissions schools. Not one school has been on the list for all four years (I have not yet seen the 2012 list... it is not on the state website with the others, if it did come out.) Back to poverty and minority demographics of the "failing" schools. The average school rated as 'F' by the state has 89% or more of its students qualifying for Free Meals. The lowest of the two low-income categories. And the elementary and middle schools in East Baton Rouge Parish receiving this label had percentages much higher than this. Now, why bring up the uncomfortable fact that 98% of the students are minority. For a couple of reasons. Underlying conditions are the reason why poverty matters, and they include things such as the resources available in the home. Such resources include, but are not limited to, number of books in the home, hours of television watched, education level of the parents, number of parents in the home, language spoken in the home, and the presence or absence of lead and other pollutants in the home. EVERY single major research project examining these factors has found that, at the same income levels, minority students on average were worse off than white students on each of these measures. In addition, the actual average income levels of minority families qualifying for free meals is significantly lower than the average income of white families qualifying for free meals. So, 98% of low income and minority students, equals significantly higher challenges for teachers and schools, not based on "low expectations" or "excuses" but on very, very real challenges these students likely face. The research is very clear on this. It DOES NOT mean that these students can't learn, or that they can't achieve at high levels... it DOES suggest that the state and "reformers" should be supporting research examining honestly and openly, what these patterns tell us about what we can do to improve schools. Their lies and anecdotes have not changed the patterns, only served to hide them. I have four words for the "reformers" to ponder. Too Little, Too Late. Too little attention to the very real patterns that exist, and too late to do any good. You have already falsely accused teachers across the state of being failures. Because schools don't teach children, teachers do. And these labels have little to nothing to do with the quality of teaching. And they either know it and ignore it, or they have never examined it, and they honestly don't know it. Shame on them either way.

5) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 12/08/2012

Consistent with my comments years ago to LaVonne Sheffield (then head of the Recovery School District outside of New Orleans) and to a member of the BEBE Board (both of whom accused me of being racist for saying it) the elementary and middle schools Charles Lussier listed above as receiving an 'F' Letter Grade from the state's incredibly flawed "accountability" system all share similar student demographics. The average % of students qualifying for free or reduced meal prices, coming from the lowest income levels in our community, is 98%. The average student body is 98% minority. In my next post (since we can't use paragraphs on The Advocate's website, for some arcane reason) I will explain why this matters, and what the reformers don't want you to know.

6) Comment by tradewinns - 10/08/2012

this is a prime example of the failure of our school politicians to do their jobs. a school is just a building. the school is failing, why? are the teachers substandard? if they are, fire them and replace them. is the principle not doing their job? if not fire them and replace them. the building is not causing one student to fail any subject. if the teachers nor the administration is not a fault, who is? it should come as no surprize it is the parents'. they do not ensure their children are doing what they are suppose to do at the time they are suppose to do it. they are the ones that need to be replaced. because you can not replace them easily, punish them by monetary fines or even imprisonment. after all they are condemning their kids to a life of dependance or worse. it'll never happen as the politicians do not have a backbone or a constitution even as strong as a piece of dry spagetti. so first let's replace the politicians in charge of our schools.