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We Are Full Swing Into Fall!

Section: Community

We Are Full Swing Into Fall!
After a busy and productive Summer, we are very excited to go full steam ahead into the Fall semester. Below are key updates and a preview of important events ahead. As always, we thank you for your continued support of the Cowen Institute and the transformation of public education in New Orleans.

ExxonMobil Foundation Gives $1.6 Million to Launch College Preparatory Program in Four Public High Schools in New Orleans
With one of the largest donations of its kind to support public school students in New Orleans, the ExxonMobil Foundation gave $1.6 million dollars to Tulane University’s Cowen Institute to establish an advanced placement training and incentive program at a press conference October 2. The pilot program will be rolled out in four public high schools in Orleans Parish over the next five years aimed at providing high school students with the tools needed to succeed in college, including advanced placement classes.

From L to R: Scott Cowen, President Tulane University; Gerald McElvy, President ExxonMobil Foundation; Paul Vallas, Recovery School District Superintendent

The announcement took place at John McDonogh High School, one of the first schools selected to pilot the program. On behalf of the Scott Cowen Institute for Public Education at Tulane University, President Cowen received the donation from Gerald McElvy, President of the ExxonMobil Foundation. Recovery School District Superintendent, Paul Vallas, also attended the reception along with participating high school principals, teachers, and students who will be a part of the program.

For more information about this exciting and comprehensive program,

click here.

Legislators Embark on Statewide Tour
of School Facilities

In an effort to highlight school facilities needs around the state, the Cowen Institute embarked on a statewide school trip with Senator Cheryl Gray and Representative Karen Carter Peterson on October 2nd and 3rd. We traveled to schools in Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, Madison and Tensas Parishes.

A news clip and video can be found by clicking here.

As evidenced by concerns raised by local school boards from around the state, our school facilities cannot continue to be ignored. During the 2008 Regular Legislative Session Senator Gray and Representative Peterson introduced two bills to help local school districts secure funds from the state to partially match local funds dedicated to school facilities—Senate Bill 632 and House Bill 962. With the support of the full House and Senate, these bills passed; however, they were vetoed by Governor Jindal leaving many of our local school districts without the means to meet the capital needs of our schools.

Click here for more information on Senate Bill 632 and click here for more information on House Bill 962 on the development of a school building authority.

Click here for a detailed legislative update that includes the latest in education policy on the local, state and federal levels.

This update focuses on several topics including:

Hurricane damage to Louisiana schools
Changes in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding
Louisiana’s No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon schools
Education policy positions of the Presidential candidates

From L to R: Nash Molpus, Cowen Institute; Nolan Rollins, President Urban League of New Orleans; Renee Smith, League of Women Voters,

New Orleans;Candiate Cynthia Cade

Orleans Parish School Board Forum

The Cowen Institute, the Urban League and the League of Women's Voter, New Orleans held a forum for Orleans Parish School Board candidates. It was an opportunity for the community to meet their candidates and understand the role of the Orleans Parish School Board.

Elections were held on Saturday, October 4 and final results are as follows:

- Ira Thomas (District 1)
- Cynthia Cade (District 2)
- Brett Bonin (District 3)
- Lourdes Moran (District 4)
- Seth Bloom (District 5)
- Woody Koppel (District 6)
- Thomas A. Robichaux (District 7)

LEAP and GEE Test Scores

The Cowen Institute’s research area seeks to identify and share educational data, research, and best practices in order to inform the process of public education improvement in New Orleans as well as chronicle the transformation of public schools in the city. This update examines test scores from the New Orleans public schools from the 2004-2005 school year (just prior to Hurricane Katrina) through the last two school years for both the LEAP and the GEE tests.This most recent information can be found here.

Key findings include:

New Orleans, LA (NOLA) schools had greater gains in 4th grade English and Math than Louisiana as a whole; within New Orleans, Recovery School District-run schools experienced the greatest growth in this area
NOLA schools matched state gains in 8th grade English; however, NOLA schools had smaller gains than the state as a whole in 8th grade Math
Once individual school performance scores (SPS) are released (scheduled to be released October 2008), an addendum to the 2008 State of Public Education in New Orleans report (released in April 2008) will be developed and released that will summarize the performance of all public schools in New Orleans on standardized tests and other measures of student outcomes. The report will provide a brief history and overview of Louisiana’s education accountability system, and also provide relevant comparisons between New Orleans school performance and school performance in other parts of the state and the nation. The report is designed to help policy makers, educators, and the community-at-large understand how public schools in New Orleans have progressed over time and also how they compare to schools in Louisiana and across the United States.

Tulane's Cowen Institute and other partners were recognized at the nationally televised Tulane football game against SMU for their work in public education initiatives. Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas was on hand to speak to students.

Thanks to the generous support of the Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation , the Jones Scholars Internship Program was created to provide valuable intellectual and human capital to the work of the K-12 public education community in New Orleans, building their capacity and expertise. Jones Scholars spend a semester working directly for a charter or traditional public school in Orleans Parish, or with one of the high-impact nonprofit organizations that support them, on a project determined by the host site. For information on the Fall 2008 academic semester Jones Scholars and their projects please click here.

Graduate students currently have until October 15, 2008 to apply for the Spring 2009 Jones Scholars program. For more information and an application, please click here. In addition to the Jones Scholars continuing their work with the Akili Project and the Children’s Bureau project, they will work with two new programs:

O. Perry Walker Senior High School and John McDonogh #32 Elementary School (Parents Energizing Parents, Inc. Community Outreach Program): Parents Energizing Parents, Inc. (PEP) is acommunity-based organization which seeks to provide assistance, educational resources and volunteersupport to local schools and communities. The mission of this program is to increase parentalinvolvement in the activities and functions of schools with a vision of shared parent, student, and schoolaccountability to improve learning.
Samuel J. Green Charter School Because of the serious academic needs of its students, literacy has become themajor focus for the school. The school seeks a Jones Scholar to serve asits Library Intern-- a detail-oriented individual with a background in education to provide support to its library development and use.
For additional information or to review detailed project descriptions, please contact:Felicia R. Brown, Program Manager

frbrown@tulane.edu or 504/274-3682

Annual Report
We are proud to release our first annual report available online. We have accomplished a great deal since we opened our doors thanks our many generous partners and dedicated staff. We look forward to the task ahead and hope you will join us in this effort as we work to reinvent public education in New Orleans and beyond.

Please do not hesitate to ask us for additional information or send us questions.

With sincere thanks,

The Cowen Institute Team

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