Half of Louisiana’s students entering Kindergarten know the alphabet and can count to 20, state Superintendent of Education
John White told the
“A lot of the challenges we see in
Louisiana are because our kids get so far behind so quickly,” he said.
“By third grade,
half of our students are below grade level in either math or
English-Language Arts, or both. These facts are pretty stunning.”
White spoke about “Louisiana Believes,” which includes Acts 1, 2 and 3 approved during this year’s legislative session.
Under Act 3, the Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education can establish a “unified system” of pre-K,
which, he said will
fix the current “fragmented system.” In December, the state
Department of Education will submit a report to the board detailing
the new pre-K system, White said. The board will review it and
submit it to the state Legislature. He said the goal is to
implement the new system by 2014-2015 school year.
“This is to create one system of
unified funding and accountability,” White said. “It will be a real
shift for day care providers
and the Head Start Program.”
The other components of “Louisiana
Believes” include the move to the Common Core State Standards and the
implementation of
Compass, the state’s new teacher evaluation system. Earlier in the
day, White visited students and teachers at South Cameron
High School and Midland High School to see how Compass and the
Common Core Standards are working. He is currently visiting
schools in 26 parishes.
White said he believes teachers statewide are focused on implementing Compass and setting student achievement goals. He said
the Common Core Standards teach students to learn more detailed skills over time.
“We started working with (teachers) this year by moderately changing our tests,” White said.
Changes to the accountability system include no points for students performing below the basic grade level, and bonuses for
helping improve a low-performing student.
White said the “Louisiana Believes” plan includes believing in students, families and educators. He said the work with students
starts with early childhood education.
With families, he said the department received a record number of charter school applications, and that 5,000 students out
of 10,000 applicants were placed in the scholarship program for non-public schools.
“The best plan for school choice is
making every school a good choice,” White said. “These programs address a
relatively small
number of students across the state, but because they are students
in the most challenging circumstances, I think they show
promise, especially for those families.”
White said only 121 out of the state’s
385 high schools offer advanced placement courses. Currently, he said
the state is
the lowest performing in the nation in advanced placement courses
and has the lowest number of students taking AP tests. White
said 300 teachers were trained this summer to teach advanced
placement classes.
Through the Course Choice program, he said the department has asked corporations, including industry-based providers, to help
train students for career and high school credit. White said the state has received several applications for the program,
and that state law requires those applicants to be reviewed by BESE on a three-year term, based on academic outcomes.
White said teachers need to be empowered to be decision makers, and that the accountability system by itself will not improve
education in the state.
“The other half of the equation is how do you unlock the creative potential of our educators,” he said. “We have too much
of a compliance (and) mandate-driven culture right now in our schools.”
Those changes are being made by reorganizing the state department into a set of “network teams” that bring together school
districts based on location and demographics, White said.
“We’re going to put the state’s best educators there to support you and your plans to adopt Common Core Standards, rather
than have different offices that come and tell you how to do your business,” he said.
If the state holds teachers accountable for student performance, White said that teachers must be empowered. He said that
can happen by removing the comprehensive curriculum, and trusting educators to make decisions on what activities to teach
and which textbooks to use.
He said Act 1 has helped empower superintendents and principals by allowing them, instead of school boards, to decide which
teachers should be allowed in classrooms.
White said putting all of the education changes into place will take time and that the state is in the “start of a significant
shift in education.”
“We shouldn’t be under the impression that all of this is going to have a system-wide change effect in three months,” he said.