tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320142526463519217.post7489690908299496562..comments2023-12-29T00:38:51.861-08:00Comments on EdLog: Times-Picayune explains it all for youLouisana Federation of Teachershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08367793647653159034noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320142526463519217.post-4446016674516979532010-05-06T01:53:19.054-07:002010-05-06T01:53:19.054-07:00The article could be much better, but education pe...The article could be much better, but education performance indicators that do allow state-to-state comparisons (such as the ones published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress) all show that on average kids in Texas can read and do math significantly better than kids in Louisiana.<br /><br />Consider also that the public schools in New Orleans are (again, on average) the worst in Louisiana, despite in many cases being better funded.<br /><br />Also, the Orleans parish education success metrics were among the worst in the United States, in some cases rating Louisiana 50th among all the states plus the district of Columbia. This is particularly disturbing given that the United States itself compares rather poorly with other developed nations of the world.<br /><br />Are things better now? Yes, definitely, measurably.<br /><br />Was the work that work that the Orleans Parish School Board did before Katrina commendable? Was the OPSB successful? By any standard that we're able to measure, the answer is No. For a long time, we couldn't really do much worse educating our kids in New Orleans.<br /><br />The Washington Post quoted Education Secretary Arne Duncan as saying that Katrina was "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans". There might be some truth to that.<br /><br />References:<br /><br />* National Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov/)<br /><br />* The Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives (http://www.tulane.edu/cowen_institute/speno.html)<br /><br />* U.S. Department of Education (ed.gov)<br /><br />* Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012903259.html)Donnie Cameronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02850419139819137822noreply@blogger.com