By Raynard Sanders, Ed.D. | Originally Published at EmpathyEducates. October 11, 2014 Kim Ueyama engages students in her geometry class at Carver Collegiate and Carver Preparatory Academies, December 17, 2013. (Photo by Ted Jackson, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
Every year post Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, charter school proponents and education privateers have boasted about the academic gains of the charter schools. However the only folks that have been making these claims are the folks that have a vested interest in the success of charter schools (Recovery School District, charter operators, education industry). From the beginning the Cowen Institute at Tulane University has been the lead cheerleader of the unfound academic success of charter schools in New Orleans.
All external analysis of the market model education reforms have been just the opposite. Researchers and bloggers have consistently found that the Recovery School District of New Orleans schools rank at the bottom when compared to other school districts in the state.
Finally the Cowen Institute has given up promoting the myth and has retracted its October 1st school report. Obviously the Cowen Institute could no longer ignore the obvious. This is quite a turn around for an agency at a major research university. More importantly it is unbelievable that a research institution would make such an analysis given the preponderance of data that clearly indicated otherwise.
Moving forward the Cowen Institute needs to review all of their annual school reports for the past nine years, the results this past school years is just like the other years where charter schools have posted poor academic performance.
Read what is known on the retraction below. Regrettably, the original Cowen Institute Research Report cannot be shared. Why? It disappeared into the ether. Why? That is not fully stated. What was said is “We apologize for this mistake.” Executive Director John Ayers proclaimed, “Officials determined the report’s methodology was flawed, making its conclusions inaccurate. The report will not be reissued.” It would seem for Cowen Institute this is an embarrassment. Imagine how the citizenry feels. For years, the people were led to believe that they might trust the system, even while their eyes told them that the people were deceived. Now, what do we do?
Do we “Beat the Odds?” or be upset with those who work so hard to convince us that we need to believe in a flawed system, a flawed assessment, a flawed report, and schools that do not succeed? Well, it depends. Who do you trust?
Zoey Reed, a spokeswoman for Collegiate Academies, which was glorified in the initial report, said that while the Cowen report was “validation” of the schools’ success, its retraction doesn’t diminish the learning centers. “There’s just so much great stuff that we already do,” she said. “That still holds true with or without the report.” That said, the truth remains; detractors detected, documented and suspected. Now we have the correction. The most recent glowing report by the Cowen Institute about Charter Schools effectiveness is actually based on research and calculations that are defective.
Tulane’s Cowen Institute Retracts New Orleans Schools Report, Apologizes
In a high-profile embarrassment, Tulane University’s Cowen Institute for Education Initiatives on Friday retracted its widely cited Oct. 1 report on New Orleans public high school performance. The study concluded that most schools are posting higher graduation rates and better test scores than could be expected, given the socio-economic disadvantages of their students.
The institute, launched by former Tulane President Scott Cowen, is the primary group that has examined massive shifts in New Orleans public education since Hurricane Katrina. Its research has been touted by numerous news agencies, charter school support groups and the Louisiana Department of Education.
The repudiated report, “Beating the Odds: Academic Performance and Vulnerable Student Populations in New Orleans Public High Schools,” has been removed from the non-profit institute’s website. Cowen’s executive director, John Ayers, said the research was inaccurate.
“Officials determined the report’s methodology was flawed, making its conclusions inaccurate,” Ayers said. “The report will not be reissued.” The institute plans to “thoroughly examine and strengthen its internal protocols” to ensure its future reports are accurate and have been appropriately reviewed, he said.
“We apologize for this mistake,” he added.
The report, which listed Debra Vaughan and Patrick Sims as lead researchers, used what’s called a “value-added” formula to predict the performance of students at 25 high schools. Researchers said they considered schools’ challenges — for example, the report analyzed how many students were classified as receiving free or discounted lunch, how many students were over-age for their class and how many failed state standardized tests — then created performance measures with those factors in mind.
Schools with students who exceeded expected measures were considered to have beaten the odds. Ayers would not say what piece of the methodology was flawed.
Among other high schools, the report highlighted Landry-Walker College & Career Preparatory Academy, George Washington Carver Preparatory Academy and Carver Collegiate Academy for their exemplary performance on end-of-course tests. Other schools, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Charter, McDonogh No. 35 High and Lake Area New Tech Early College High, were showcased for their higher-than-expected graduation rates. NOLA.com published a story on the report the day it was released.
Before the retraction, the report had leaped to prominence in some New Orleans education circles, touted by everyone from state Recovery School District Superintendent Patrick Dobard to Leslie Jacobs, a former member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and a driving force behind the state’s education reforms of the past 20 years. It also was highlighted via social media by leaders of the charter management organization Collegiate Academies, which runs Carver Prep and Carver Collegiate, and of the nonprofit charter support group New Schools for New Orleans.
To Read More or to consider the bigger picture, peruse Understanding Cowen Institute’s Botched VAM Effort, Recovery School District Still Failing
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