Over the past twenty years, New Orleans’ phenomenal teachers have supported our students in making real academic progress. Below, we share some updates from our blog over the years that help tell the story of that growth, even as academic standards got more challenging. We also share a post about how some New Orleans’ educators drove that progress.
In 2019, we published “New Orleans Students Continue to grow Academically as Rigor Increases.” We describe Louisiana’s transition to higher academic standards, more rigorous assessments, and more demanding School Performance Score policies—and how New Orleans’ students continued to make meaningful progress. We take explore what increased rigor looks like for our students, including sample questions from state tests.
Tanya Bryant, CEO of ReNEW Schools, talked about the importance of steady leadership at the school and classroom level: “We’ve had consistent leadership and we know that teachers stick around when their leaders stick around…Even though the world felt like it was falling apart all the time, we tried to pull that burden of additional responsibilities off of teachers, and tried to have our administration help so they could focus on their own mental health.” – Tanya Bryant
Myrialis King, CEO of Community Academies of New Orleans, emphasized the importance of holistic support for young people: “We are a network that does a ton of work with wellness and trauma. That doesn’t get a score. But if we don’t do that work, our kids can’t be in the classroom learning.”
In 2022, we celebrated districtwide achievement in SPS Released: Nearly 80% of NOLA-PS Schools Earn an A or B in Academic Progress. Our students made great progress as they emerged from time out of the classroom due to the pandemic and Hurricane Ida. We take a close look at two important ways the state measures that progress—”top growth” and the “assessment index”–and what it means for New Orleans.
