student achievement

The Minneapolis school board is considering changing academic standards for students who want to participate in extracurricular activities.

When you're not yet 10, $8,453 is a lot of money. The elementary school students at Morris Jeff Community School in New Orleans' Mid-City neighborhood oohed and aahed Tuesday as State Superintendent of Education John White awarded that sum to each of 26 New Orleans "Top Gains" schools that made significant improvements in student performance last year, for a grand total of $219,800. And in Covington later that day, White gave $230,000 to the 27 Top Gains schools in St. Tammany.

The school-to-prison pipeline -- or, the system of extreme disciplinary practices that push young people out of school and into the criminal justice system -- is often discussed from the angle of isolated incidents. In April, for example, a six-year-old Georgia girl named Salecia Johnson was, handcuffed and carted away from school in a squad car after throwing a temper tantrum in her kindergarten class.

The House of Representatives is expected to approve legislation to create a new school report card and accountability system that supporters hope will help improve student learning. “It is fitting that one of the final items we will deal with in this 129th General Assembly deals with legislation that will significantly advance the quality of education in our state,” Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, told colleagues yesterday before the Senate approved its version of House Bill 555 by a vote of 27-6.

The Douglass High School senior class could be riddled with dropouts if students become too overwhelmed by the wreckage left by years of academic mismanagement, the state superintendent of schools said Monday night.

Results from a pair of new international assessments released today show that American kids are holding their own in math, reading and other subjects. In a few cases, they're actually bypassing the rest of the world.

The state education board has granted tentative approval to a plan to establish a charter school in Baton Rouge that would serve students with dyslexia. The proposed school — called Louisiana Key Academy — would serve students afflicted with the condition, which impairs the ability to read.