BESE to Vote on Nearly $15 Million in Funding to Support Plan Implementation at June Meeting
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Department of Education today announced it approved 44 school systems' localized plans for improving persistently struggling schools, completing the final round of a two-part School Redesign Grant process, a key component of the state's renewed approach to school turnaround in the era of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The action is paired with funding support totaling nearly $15 million, pending approval by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) at its June 20 meeting, and builds upon the state's approval of 19 school improvement plans in the first round in the spring.
"The process of improving persistently struggling schools will take time, but the plans we have seen are inspiring," said State Superintendent John White. "It is great to see so many of our school leaders thinking boldly on behalf of the students who need it most. We look forward to the progress that will follow."
ESSA requires all states to identify struggling schools and award set-aside dollars to school systems that have strong evidence-based plans for improvement. In Louisiana, a school is considered to be struggling if it earns a school performance rating of D or F--the two lowest grades in the accountability system--for three consecutive years or has a graduation rate lower than 67 percent, which is about 11 percentage points lower than the state average. Currently, 272 schools, or about 20 percent of all public schools in Louisiana, fit this definition.
This year, school systems were asked to submit plans in one of two rounds. In the first round, 32 school systems submitted plans. Of those, 19 received approval and funding. In the second round, 59 school systems, including school systems that were denied in round one, submitted plans. Of those, 41 received approval and funding; three received approval but no funding; and 15 received neither approval nor funding.
The school systems that earned approval and funding will now fulfill their local strategies, while school systems that did not receive approval or funding will work with the state to better their plans and resubmit them.
The school systems with the strongest plans focus on strengthening daily instruction, expanding professional development opportunities for educators, and employing recruitment and retention strategies for top talent. The majority of school systems also plan to partner with a nationally recognized organization with a track record of success in addressing similar challenges to ensure success in transitioning to new curricula and assessments.
"In the most rural environments in our state, school systems are partnering with some of the finest nonprofit education organizations in the country," said Kunjan Narechania, Assistant Superintendent of School Improvement, "while school systems in our urban areas are establishing innovative models to make structural changes to support improvement on a larger scale."
Examples of this can be seen in school systems in Catahoula and Jefferson parishes.
"Catahoula Parish School District is excited about the opportunity afforded to us by the School Redesign Grant Initiative," said Gwile Paul Freeman, Superintendent of Catahoula Parish Public Schools. "The school turnaround strategy that we have chosen, based on a thorough needs assessment and analysis, involves professional development and instructional coaching for teachers. On-site training will be delivered in English language arts and mathematics, based on Tier 1-approved curricula. Students will benefit from this initiative through mastery of content, affording higher student assessment results. The School Redesign Grant initiative is proving motivational for teachers and administrators as we plan for the upcoming school year."
"With an equity agenda in mind, it's important to realize that some schools need different resources to be successful," said Cade Brumley, Superintendent of the Jefferson Parish Public School System, noting his school system has established an improvement zone, similar to the one inaugurated in Caddo Parish, in which multiple struggling schools work together to enact change. "Our Transformation Network will strategically implement top-tier curriculum, leadership team development, instructional coaching and community engagement for some of our most challenged schools. We realize stronger student outcomes don't happen by chance; instead they result from a thoughtful approach, talented educators and a commitment to research-based best practice in schools. We are thankful to partner in this redesign effort and realize our students, families and communities will be the beneficiaries."
Over time, the Department will monitor the progress of each approved plan, and funding for subsequent years will be based on effective implementation in the first year.
The approval of the improvement plans comes after more than a year of development and engagement. Most recently, the Louisiana Legislature became involved in the redesign process by requiring all struggling schools to present their improvement plans to their communities at a public meeting.
"In order to make progress in our most struggling schools, parents and community members must be equipped with clear information about the challenges facing local education and engaged in the dialogue about how to overcome them," said Rep. Gary Carter (D-New Orleans), who authored the law. "Under Act 555, public school leaders must develop action plans and present them during at least one public meeting at each school. The presentations must include school and student performance data, as well as a timeline for the implementation of the plan and a timeline of achievement goals."
Moving forward, a single School Redesign Grant cycle will be repeated annually. Starting in the 2018-2019 school year, the list of eligible schools will be expanded to include those that have persistently low-performing subgroups of students, including special education students and English language learners. A list of eligible school systems will be made available following the release of 2017-2018 school performance scores in Fall 2018. Those school systems will then submit plans in Fall 2018, and plans will be approved and funded the following spring.
To learn more about School Redesign in Louisiana, click here.
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