Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

Study of Louisiana’s Narrowing Achievement Gap Is Valuable

March 29, 2016 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

As reported in an Education Week news blog, the Education Research Alliance at Tulane University and the Education Reform Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas have released a new study (“Student Test-Score Performance Fell in Louisiana Voucher Program, Study Finds”).

As a Democrat, the president of the Louisiana Federation for Children, and a former state senator who voted in favor of the Louisiana Scholarship Program, which the study evaluates, I welcome such studies. However, in looking at the resulting findings, it is important that we understand the conditions in which the program operated in 2012 and acknowledge the challenges and the improvements it has seen since then.

The study’s authors speculate on four potential explanations for the large negative effects that their program evaluation found: misalignment of private school curriculum to the Louisiana State Standards; differences between serving scholarship students with achievement gaps and traditional private school students; success of other education developments, especially in New Orleans; and the overall quality of private schools willing to participate in the program. Indeed, several of the low-performing schools have been forced out of the program since its development of a robust accountability system.

Recently, the Louisiana Department of Education released its 2015 report on nonpublic school choice within the state, which includes academic data for all students in 3rd through 8th grades participating in the Louisiana Scholarship Program. The report provides data that indicate scholarship students are making academic progress and are closing the achievement gap with the statewide student average by almost half over the last five years, from 32 percentage points in 2011 to 18 percentage points in 2015.

Are we satisfied? No. But this is progress, and we welcome scrutiny in order to better serve those served by the scholarship program. Our goal is that Louisiana’s most at-risk students continue to have access to quality educational options.

Ann Duplessis

President

Louisiana Federation for Children

Baton Rouge, La.

A version of this article appeared in the March 30, 2016 edition of Education Week as Study of Louisiana’s Narrowing Achievement Gap Is Valuable

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: September 20, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education From Our Research Center What's on the Minds of Educators, in Charts
Politics, gender equity, and technology—how teachers and administrators say these issues are affecting the field.
1 min read
Stylized illustration of a pie chart
Traci Daberko for Education Week
Education Briefly Stated: August 30, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: August 23, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read