Sixth-grader at Abramson wins state science fair

By Marilyn Stewart
Contributing writer
Thursday, April 21, 2011
nola.com

Twelve-year-old Andre Johnson entered the state science fair for the first time this year and walked away with first place in the junior division. Now his eye is on an international competition this fall in Washington, D.C.
“It took practice, and it was hard work,” Andre said. “I had to believe in myself.”
Andre won the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair’s junior division before taking top honors in the mathematics category at the recent state Science and Engineering Fair at Louisiana State University. His win marks the 100th science competition award by an Abramson Science and Technology student since the Pelican Foundation Charter School opened four years ago.
The sixth-grader’s victory earns him a chance at an all-expense-paid trip to the Broadcom Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars, or MASTERS, Competition in October. Thirty middle school students from across the nation will be chosen to compete for a $25,000 grand prize for education.
Andre’s experiment involved trial runs of a yellow toy car down an incline. He varied the height of the incline and measured the distance the car traveled off the ramp. In a second set of experiments he added weight by adding pennies, then made a comparison.
“I found out Isaac Newton was right,” he said.
Andre observed that the higher the incline, the greater the distance the car traveled off the ramp. He graphed his results, and in mathematical language, determined “the slope of the line.” The variance in height affected the outcome more than the change in weight, he concluded.
“Science fair is either the best, or one of the best ways, to teach the scientific method,” said Elkhan Akhundov, the school’s science research coordinator.
The scientific method, the organized testing of an idea through experimentation and observation, is the basic method in any research, Akhundov said.
“This introduces students to a simple method for carrying out research,” Akhundov said. “It gives them the blueprint for a path that takes them to a new invention.”
The Pelican Educational Foundation was formed in 2005 with educators from Louisiana State University, Southern University of New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana University and the LSU Science Center in New Orleans. The foundation operates Abramson Science and Tech, its first school, and Kenilworth Science and Tech in Baton Rouge.
Pelican Foundation schools emphasize the integration of technology and digital arts in education, web-based training and monitoring, and collaboration with university professors and researchers for national and international science competitions. Orhan Kizilkaya, LSU professor with the center for advanced microstructures and devices and the department of physics, is president.
Cuneyt Dokmen, principal, said the science fair is valuable because it connects students to educators and resources at the university level. Partners include the University of New Orleans, LSU, Southern University at New Orleans and Tulane.
“Science fair is a tool,” Dokmen said. “It is additional support in making students aware of college opportunity. It is a tool to keep them academically challenged.”
Abramson graduates its first senior class in May with 27 students. The kindergarten through 12th grade has an enrollment of 550. Saturday school, after school tutoring and additional help on core subjects are standard. Teachers visit with parents in the home.
“We want to challenge students according to their level,” Dokmen said. “These children are smart. If they are already at mastery level, we want them to go for advanced.”
Abramson students took home 19 awards in this year’s city-wide science fair, and earned five of the nine awards offered at a competition this year sponsored by SUNO.
The school is located on the site of the former Marion Abramson Senior High School, 5552 Read Blvd. It is a Type 5 charter school and has open enrollment. Testing is not required for admission.
Andre’s win at the state science fair is another “first” for the school. Abramson came close two years ago when his brother, Michael Barnes, won fourth place in a computer science entry.
“He told me when I won, ‘Good job, little bro,’ ” Andre said. With a grin, he added, “Sometimes, I tease him that I passed him up.”

Source : nola.com

Online charter school starts up in Louisiana

BY JESSICA GOFF
THE DAILY IBERIAN
Monday, April 4, 2011

A new Baton Rouge-based statewide online charter school began accepting applications statewide on Friday.

The school, which is the first of its kind for the state, will be holding information sessions in several Louisiana cities for parents interested in enrolling their students in grades kindergarten through 12 into the program next fall.

The closest session to the Teche area will be held in Lafayette on April 12.he school, Louisiana Connections Academy, was approved by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in December and is predicted to enroll 500 students statewide in its first school year.

The school is one of 11 charter schools approved to open in the fall, the state department said.

There are 90 charter schools currently in operation in Louisiana.

The school is operated through the Friends of Louisiana Connections Academy but like all charter schools must demonstrate state-mandated academic performance and accountability requirements to maintain its BESE approved charter status, the department said.

The school advertises itself as “a challenging, K–12 curriculum developed by leading education experts- with instruction from state-certified teachers experienced in online instruction.”

Connections Academy is a national nonprofit company that operates free online public schooling in nearly 20 states.

The program combines learning in a non-traditional out-of-classroom atmosphere with curriculum that includes art, physical education, music, home life, foreign language, technology literacy depending on state issued curriculum.

For more information on the Louisiana Connections Academy visit www.connectionsacademy.com

Source: THE DAILY IBERIAN

The Changing Face of American Education

Posted by Secretary Arne Duncan 
on March 28, 2011

One of the greatest challenges facing our country is the coming retirement of more than 1 million baby-boomer teachers. This challenge has presented us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to help reshape education in America by recruiting and training the next generation of great American teachers.

Teaching is a rewarding and challenging profession where you can make a lasting impact. Teachers have a positive influence on students, schools, and communities, now and into the future. Schools across the nation are in need of a diverse set of talented teachers, especially in our big cities and rural areas, and especially in the areas of Math, Science, Technology, Special Education, and English Language Learning.

That’s why the department launched the TEACH campaign -- a bold new initiative to inspire and empower the most talented and dedicated Americans to become teachers. We know that next to parental support, there is nothing more important to a child’s education than the quality of his or her teachers.

Many of you are already thinking about becoming teachers. The TEACH campaign provides tools at your fingertips to navigate the academic and professional requirements that will credential you to succeed as a teacher in one of our schools. TEACH.gov features an online path to teaching and over 4,000 listed, open teaching positions.

In addition to information on job postings, teacher prep, and financial aid, prospective candidates can watch testimonials from current teachers. Each one was looking for a professionally challenging and financially rewarding career that would allow them to bring their passions, their lives, to work every day.  Go toTEACH.gov and listen to their stories. 

We’re also setting up TEACH Town Hall events around the country to encourage discussions in communities and at colleges for those who are preparing to step into the workforce. Help us spread the word about teaching careers. If you know someone who is considering becoming a teacher, send them to TEACH.gov so they can learn about the resources available for their state and district. Also be sure to let them know that we have an application called Raise Your Hand on Facebook that allows prospective teachers to join a community of teachers across the country and ask about teaching as a career.

Together, we can change the face of American education. We can recruit the next generation of great American teachers.

Arne Duncan is Secretary of Education

Source : The White House Blog

Most New Orleans charter schools outperform traditional schools, study finds

By Andrew Vanacore, The Times-Picayune

Friday, March 18, 2011

A new analysis of standardized test scores in New Orleans shows a majority of the city's independent charter schools are improving student performance in reading, math or both, at a notably faster rate than traditional schools.

That's an important finding considering the city and state have placed enormous confidence in the success of the charter model. The state's Recovery School District, which took over most city schools after Hurricane Katrina, has turned a majority of those over to charter organizations that are responsible for their own curriculum and day-to-day operations. The Orleans Parish School Board, which kept a handful of high-performing schools, has turned most of those into charters as well.
"It's incredibly useful data," RSD Deputy Superintendent Kevin Guitterrez said. "It tells you much more about which schools are really driving student achievement."
The new analysis of student test scores, from Stanford University, will also help shape the school system's future. The nonprofit group New Schools for New Orleans commissioned the study to help decide which charter organizations will get some of the $28 million in federal grant money available to start up additional schools over the next five years.

Stanford's Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO, analyzed test scores from 44 charter schools. Twenty-three met eligibility requirements to win grant money, with test scores improving faster than scores at schools run by the RSD. The difference had to be statistically significant in either reading or math.
Another 12 charter schools fell into the "neutral" category, showing no significant difference in scores for either category.
Nine other schools missed the bar completely, with scores in at least one category lagging behind those of direct-run schools. While the ranking doesn't necessarily mean a school is failing, three of those schools have already turned in their charters.
To advocates of entrepreneurial schools, that's the way a city's education system should work. Schools that succeed should be rewarded with responsibility for more students, while those that fail should be jettisoned.
But that approach still has its detractors, and the new testing data won't end the debate over how the New Orleans school system should be governed in the future.
Some schools that fell short in the study defended their performance.
Echoing other administrators at schools that didn't make the cut, Roslyn Smith, board president of McDonogh 42, pointed out that the Treme Charter School Association took over a failing school rather than starting one with new students. It's been handling students who are sometimes years behind grade level and doing it without the type of fund-raising resources some other charter schools have.
"We took whoever could walk, crawl or run through the door," Smith said. "We have to survive on what the state gives us and it's harder to do it that way."
Much the same is true at Sojourner Truth Academy, said Principal Channa Cook, adding that test scores often don't reflect the "range of psycho-social challenges our students face including trauma, homelessness, violence, and legal challenges."
UNO Charter Network spokeswoman Vera Billy said test scores shouldn't be the only barometer for success. Thurgood Marshall, for instance, graduated all of its seniors last year and took in more than $800,000 in scholarships for them, she said.
CREDO took pains to even the playing field when analyzing test scores in New Orleans. Researchers did not simply compare one school to another. Instead, they matched up students in charter schools with "virtual twins" at a direct-run school to compare students from roughly equivalent backgrounds.
For every charter student, the group found one or multiple students at direct-run schools that had lost pupils to charters in the same area. That ensured a similar population of students. Within that pool, they made sure the students matched up in a slew of different categories, including race, gender and socioeconomic background. They also made sure the paired students began with exactly the same test results.
CREDO Director Macke Raymond said the group was able to find matches for 85 percent of New Orleans charter students and extrapolate for the rest.
The findings in New Orleans appear to buck the national trend.
CREDO did a similar study in 2009 using data from 15 different states and Washington DC. The group found that only 17 percent of the charter schools provided superior results to traditionally run schools. At the same time, 37 percent did significantly worse.
New Orleans likely stands out in part because of the tremendous national attention and funding that arrived after Katrina, said Paul Peterson, who heads the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University.
Along with Katrina-related recovery dollars, the school system benefited from a large corps of new teachers from Teach for America and other programs.
Peterson also singled out Louisiana for putting a strict system in place to approve charters. In the vast majority of cases, the state's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has not approved a charter that doesn't have the recommendation of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. Indeed, some local charter groups have been frustrated by the high bar set by the state.
New Schools for New Orleans will use Stanford's data and other criteria to decide which schools should get grant money to expand in the fall, as well the 2012-2013 school year. It plans to announce its decision some time in the next week or so.
Four charter organizations have applied for the first round of funding: KIPP New Orleans is preparing to open two new elementary schools and FirstLine will either open a new high school or take over a failing one. Both organizations met New Schools for New Orleans' requirements in the CREDO study.
There are also two new charter groups looking for cash to help get off the ground: Crescent City Schools, which is taking over Harriet Tubman, and Educators for Quality Alternatives, which is opening NET Charter High School. New Schools for New Orleans will review their applications for grant money through interviews and a review of their school plans.



Source : nola.com

Charter Schools Independent and Innovative

Charter Schools are independent public schools that are free to be more innovative and held accountable for improved student achievement. They foster a relationship between parents, teachers, and students to create an environment in which parents are more involved, teachers can be more innovative, and students are provided the structure they need to learn.

Charter schools operate from 3 basic principles

1. Choice: Parents select the school their child attends. Teachers and principals choose to work in the school.
2. Flexibility: Charter schools are free to make timely decisions about developing curricula, structuring the school day and hiring teachers who meet the needs of their students.
3. Accountability: Charter schools operate within a multi-tiered accountability system – to parents, to authorizers via a performance-based contract, to the state and lenders – that leads to quality schools and high achievement.

There are five different types of charter schools

• Type 1 – Charter with local school board (new start-up)
• Type 2 – Charter with BESE (new start-up or conversion)
• Type 3 – Charter with local school board (conversion)
• Type 4 – School Board Charter with BESE (new start-up or conversion)
• Type 5 – Charter with BESE (pre-existing public school under the jurisdiction of the RSD)

History of Louisiana’s charter schools

Louisiana’s Charter School Law was originally enacted in 1995 (Act 192) as a pilot program allowing up to eight school districts to volunteer to participate. These districts could either grant charters to eligible groups or apply to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to operate a charter school themselves.

The law was substantially revised in 1997 (Act 477) to allow all school districts to participate, but the number of charter schools statewide was capped at 42. The 1997 act also allowed an “appeals-type” procedure under which an eligible group could submit its charter proposal directly to BESE if a local school board failed to approve it or if the local school board placed conditions on the approval of the charter which were unacceptable to the group.

In 2003, a constitutional amendment (Act 1293) and four bills (Act 9, Act 260, Act 381 and Act 944) impacted the operation of charter schools. The constitutional amendment authorized the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to take over failing public schools or provide for others to do so; it also authorized BESE to receive, control and spend the state and local per pupil share of the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for those schools. Companion legislation (Act 9) spelled out the procedure BESE is to follow to implement the provisions of the constitutional amendment; created a new “Type 5” category of charter schools as one option BESE has for providing for the operation of a failing public school it takes over; and includes special provisions for the creation and operation of Type 5 charter schools.

Louisiana’s Charter School Law

• Download the full text of Louisiana's Charter School Law through 2009 (PDF)
• Download the full text of the Charter School Bulletin (PDF)

Source : Louisiana Associations of Charter Schools

A Vivid Example of Putting Foolish Labels: “Gulen Charter Schools

By Harmony Parent
December 6, 2010 - Harmony Parent

A recent article on Leave Charters Alone grabbed my attention about charter schools, their relative accomplishments within their short history and the baseless attacks on these schools some of which have been deliberately labeled as Gulen Charter Schools.
Author starts his/her article with an allusion to the recent movie (Waiting for Superman) about charter schools: Stories related to charter schools and their self-described movement has lately been featured in the media probably more than it has been for the past five years combined. This increase in public attention is indebted to many factors such as dedication of updated resources to the movement by the Obama administration and the latest documentary by Oscar winning director Davis Guggenheim, “Waiting for 'Superman'”. As it has been the case wherever money is involved, the issue stirred a hot debate, emotions ranging from characterizing charter schools as the new savior of the broken education system to the latest demons to hijack money from our much-needy schools.

….. The charters that achieved the reputation of being “high-performing” paved their success in this “high-accountability” period. Today there are dozens of these schools such as nationwide KIPP schools, California’s Green Dot public schools, Texas’ Harmony public schools or New York’s Harlem Success Academy. These charters have long track records and are subject to increasing public scrutiny.
After giving a few reasons for the students re-entering traditional public school system, the author unfolds a recent misconception about a group of charter schools: On August 17, 2010, USA Today ran a story on Texas’ acclaimed Harmony Public School. In the article, Ed Fuller, a University of Texas-Austin researcher, was quoted "It's not hard to be 'Exemplary' if you lose all the kids who aren't performing" (www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm).
More than one month later Harmony was featured on Texas Tribune on September 27, 2010 with a title “What Drives High Achievement At Harmony Charters?” (www.texastribune.org/texas-education/texas-education-agency/what-drives-high-achievement-at-harmony-charters-/). This time Fuller conceded that the percentage (Fuller reported the network’s attrition rate as 50% in USA Today) was merely an estimate based on an informal review of high school-level data, not a comprehensive study. Fuller also said that he did not find that the students who left had significantly lower test scores than those who stayed. This is an example of the same account reported in two completely different ways.
How come a researcher like Ed Fuller falls into the trap of declaring unverified data? Is it because of some sort of pressure on him to publish those bogus data? Or is it something else that we don’t know? Why did he make his claims so confidently on national level and then pulled in his horns on statewide level? Besides, which data are we going to trust from now on? What is worse, there are substantial amount of people basing their accusations and attacks on these unverified facts, using such data or similar ones to attack certain charter schools and label them ‘Gulen Charter Schools’. This ‘Gulen Charter School’ concept, by the way, has recently become a popular tag. There are plenty of amateur free-to-buy websites and blogs that have started an unprecedented smear campaign on so-called Gulen Charter Schools. It is not easy task to determine their main causes, because, so far, in charter movement history, no such smear campaign has launched on any charter school group with all various blogs and amateur websites. Ironically, this campaign is performed against one of the most successful charter school chains in Texas or in any other state. It is also not fair to call these schools “Gulen Charter Schools” giving credit to Fethullah Gulen who repeatedly insisted that he has no ties with these schools in any way (see the same USA Today article). If there is a success story, it belongs to teachers, parents, administrators and of course the students of these schools. We should refrain from putting simplistic labels such as Gulen Charter Schools.
On one occasion, I saw a mini-article claiming that Math-Count is a Gulenist organization. That is just plain ignorance, not knowing the years-long American tradition. When you combine your ill-intention with utterly ignorant approach, you just come up with nothing but some embarrassment. How can someone be filled with so much hatred and ignorance at the same time? Like I said above, it is not easy to find out the main motives of people attacking charter schools and labeling them with something (Gulen Charter Schools) Americans have never heard until recently. Maybe this labeling (Gulen Charter Schools) is the 21^st century version of a new opposition in American society. We have already wasted the 20^th century with labeling people, groups and organizations and this century will put the burden on the shoulders of those labeled ones: get rid of your “Gulen Charter School” or any other label if you can!
After seeing Ed Fuller’s initial accusation and subsequent deflation, I wonder if other accusations of those attackers (on the same blogs) are the products of same helter-skelter approach. The attacks and accusations are solely based on rumors with no academic credibility. At the end of the day, it is curious to know the thing operating behind the curtain. Are “Gulen Charter School” attackers doing this just because they are against charter schools or they really care about our children’s education or they want to add more fuel to their Gulen antagonism? Throughout the history, seemingly innocent intentions have turned out to be a part of a bigger plan.
To make long story short, having served and positively changed the lives of hundreds and thousands of children, charter schools, just like any other schools, deserve to get rid of foolish labels put by clumsy researchers and ill-intentioned people.

Article from Harmony Parent

BESE honors teacher, students from charter school

• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jan 21, 2011 - Page: 8A
• 
  

  Students from a Baton Rouge middle school and a Baton Rouge teacher were recognized Thursday by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
  A robotics team from Kenilworth Science & Technology Charter School was given a resolution from BESE, which sets state policies for public schools statewide.
  The team, called “Alienbots,” earned first place for overall performance during the state’s First LEGO League Championship in New Orleans.
  The students were also picked as the best rookie team.
  The competition was held in November.Students built autonomous robots to perform tasks related to a biomedical and engineering theme.
  Teams were also required to present judges with a biomedical problem and proposed solution. Students were rated on teamwork and professionalism.
  Members of the Kenilworth team are Jabir Abdullah, Fazil Ozcelik, Matthew Kingsley, Emma Lacy, Dylan Aguiluz and Nathaniel Batiste.
  The coach is Irfan Demir, a computer teacher and robotics coordinator at the school.
  BESE also recognized Laura Hill, a teacher at Cedarcrest-Southmoor Elementary School, who recently won a Milken National Educator Award.
  The award includes a $25,000 gift from the foundation, which issues the honors annually to teachers around the country.
  Hill teaches fourth grade. In 2009 all of her home room students passed the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program.
  Passage of the test, which measures math and English skills, is required for promotion to the fifth grade.
  The state’s other Milken winner, Renee Lee Ward, was also recognized by BESE.
  Ward teaches at Delhi Charter School in northeast Louisiana.

  
  

  Source : 2theadvocate
  Videos for this success : www.kenilworthst.org

  
  

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