School Choice & Charters Series

New Orleans Schools

Recovery & Reform
School & District Management As Year Ends, Questions Remain for New Orleans
Fundamental questions remain as the 2007-08 academic year draws to a close, including how the city’s still-evolving decentralized mix of regular public schools and charters will operate in the coming years.
Lesli A. Maxwell, June 3, 2008
11 min read
Sophie B. Wright Charter School 6th grader Christian Lawrence, left, practices a step routine on the school's stage on May 7 as part of the Alpha Phi Alpha Gentleman's afterschool program.
Sophie B. Wright Charter School 6th grader Christian Lawrence, left, practices a step routine on the school's stage on May 7 as part of the Alpha Phi Alpha Gentleman's afterschool program.
Matthew Hinton for Education Week
School Choice & Charters In New Orleans, University's Charter School Makes Gains
Regular exposure to people connected to higher education is a key piece of one New Orleans charter school's academic model.
Lesli A. Maxwell, May 21, 2008
6 min read
Assessment New Orleans Pupils Post Gains on State Tests
Despite the encouraging progress, students in the state-run Recovery School District remain academically troubled, especially in high school.
Lesli A. Maxwell, May 7, 2008
3 min read
Student Achievement Playing Catch-Up
Plenty of academic programs, but uneven progress, mark New Orleans’ recovery district.
Lesli A. Maxwell, April 8, 2008
11 min read
School Climate & Safety FEMA Site Shows Recovery Money
The Web site is intended to offer a clearer picture of how much the government is spending to rebuild public schools in the city.
Lesli A. Maxwell, February 22, 2008
2 min read
School Choice & Charters No Easy Road to Choice
Ensuring that families have their pick of an array of attractive public schools has been tricky in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Erik W. Robelen, February 22, 2008
10 min read
School & District Management Vallas Intends to Refashion High Schools in New Orleans
The overhaul would offer career-oriented magnet programs at each campus, along with a districtwide college-preparatory curriculum of honors and Advanced Placement courses.
Lesli A. Maxwell, February 8, 2008
5 min read
Giovanna Batiste, a junior at Frederick Douglass High School, walks down her grandmother’s street in the Lower Ninth Ward. Fewer than half the houses on the street are occupied.
Giovanna Batiste, a junior at Frederick Douglass High School, walks down her grandmother’s street in the Lower Ninth Ward. Fewer than half the houses on the street are occupied.
Christopher Powers
Student Well-Being ‘The Hurricane Messed a Lot of Us Up’
Settling back in to school has been a struggle for thousands of New Orleans students whose lives were disrupted by Katrina.
Lesli A. Maxwell, January 15, 2008
9 min read
Teaching Profession State-Run School System Could Start Handing Out Big Bonuses
Teachers and principals at schools the state has taken over could earn big bonuses if they bring the schools up to certain standards.
The Associated Press, December 27, 2007
1 min read
Federal Foundations Donate Millions to Help New Orleans Schools’ Recovery
Three major foundations today will announce a gift of nearly $18 million for the recovery of public schooling in New Orleans, in what will be the first large-scale infusion of funding from national philanthropic organizations for the city’s education system since Hurricane Katrina struck more than two years ago.
Lesli A. Maxwell, December 13, 2007
3 min read
School & District Management ‘Welcome School’ Eases Post-Katrina Placements
The program was conceived to offer students in 6th through 12th grades support services and placement in one of the 34 schools that the RSD is operating this school year.
Lesli A. Maxwell, November 26, 2007
4 min read
Teaching Profession New Teachers Are New Orleans Norm
Hundreds of fresh recruits, many of them new to K-12 teaching, are filling public school classrooms across the city in Katrina’s aftermath.
Erik W. Robelen, November 12, 2007
10 min read
Senior Darrin Smith Jr., left, English teacher Aaron Williams, center, and math coordinator Mary Thompson look for matching names on new laptops to give students at Frederick A. Douglass High School.
Senior Darrin Smith Jr., left, English teacher Aaron Williams, center, and math coordinator Mary Thompson look for matching names on new laptops to give students at Frederick A. Douglass High School.
Matthew Hinton for Education Week
Classroom Technology New Orleans Equips High School Students With Laptops
Thousands of public high school students in New Orleans received their own laptop computers this month as part of a $53 million technology initiative.
Lesli A. Maxwell, October 30, 2007
5 min read
Senior Darrin Smith Jr., left, English teacher Aaron Williams, center, and math coordinator Mary Thompson look for matching names on new laptops to give students at Frederick A. Douglass High School.
Senior Darrin Smith Jr., left, English teacher Aaron Williams, center, and math coordinator Mary Thompson look for matching names on new laptops to give students at Frederick A. Douglass High School.
Matthew Hinton for Education Week
Classroom Technology New Orleans District Bills Laptop Program as Cultural Shift
Thousands of public high school students in New Orleans received their own laptop computers this month—part of a $53 million technology initiative by the Recovery School District to modernize some of the nation’s most rundown classrooms.
Lesli A. Maxwell, October 23, 2007
5 min read