The results are in for the Spring 2007 LEAP and GEE tests. The results are mixed and mildly encouraging. There are a few bright spots and several reasons to be hopeful. Looking at the percentages with at least Basic Skills in English and Math gives two scores for each school in each year. The state averages were:

Louisiana average Percentage at Basic or above	2007 E/M	2005 E/M	Change
Leap 4th Grade	69/63	64/60	modest improvement
Leap 8th Grade	69/67	51/51	substantial improvement
GEE	56/63	62/62	modest decline in English

Note: Given the fact that Orleans was in such bad shape in 2005, eliminating half of Orleans scores in 2007 (lower population) just has to have improved the scores. Why the English GEE scores would drop is curious and suggests further digging.

Orleans Parish Public Schools reported on five schools. Bethune did slightly better in 2007 than pre-Katrina, Baby Ben did worse. McMain was worse. McD 35 was much worse and PM is new. With only five schools to manage and starting with some of the best in the city you'd expect the OPS team to do better.

The Algiers Charters with the exception of Berhman were all slightly worse to worse than preKatrina scores.  Berhman is worth more investigation as it jumped from being one of the failing schools to become the second best elementary school in the city after only Audubon Montessori. Karr converted from magnet status to open admission charter explaining its decline. Eisenhower and Walker results were almost unchanged in their first year as charters. Why were there declines at Harte, Fischer, Tubman and McD#32?

Eleven of the thirty-nine elementary schools in Orleans bettered the state average, Top charter schools like Audubon, Lake Forest and Lusher maintained their high standings. Berhman came out of nowhere to claim second place. The new International School joined the top group. Bethune put in a strong showing. Moton Charter and Hynes moved down slightly but stayed above state averages. MLK Charter moved up strongly to nearly match Lusher. Sophie Wright elementary moved way up to join the list of passing elementary schools. Nelson came up just short, missing by one point in English while beating the average by one point in Math.

Only four (of thirty-seven) middle schools and three (of the fourteen) high schools bettered the state averages. Charters Lusher, Hynes, Audubon and OPS McMain surpassed the eighth grade state average. In the high schools Karr dropped substantially as they converted from magnet to an open admission charter but managed to hold on to beat the state average. OPS McMain dropped below the state average.Lusher Charter is new and impressive with 91/89 percent passing rates.

Charter Ben Franklin Senior High School continues to dominate the High Schools with perfect 100/100 passing rates. Franklin also scored 59% of the math scores at the Advanced level and a fraction under 90% Mastery or better. Franklin continues to challenge the top private high schools in town and nationwide for overall leadership in measures like National Merit Scholars, college scolarships, college and graduate school graduation rates. Franklin's alumni provide strong local support for the school.

Two RSD Chartered Elementary Schools managed to exceed the state average. These two were SophieWright Elementary and MLK Math and Science Charter. No other RSD school exceeded state averages.

The KIPP school did not include a grade that was tested in Spring 2007. The KIPP transformational school, McD#15 had a 54/80 percent pass rate on Leap 8, thus falling just short in English but crushing the state average in Math.

Even at the schools that failed to achieve at least the state average there were some hopeful signs and some disturbing ones. Some schools like Walker greatly improved the number of students reaching the approaching basic level. However a few schools regressed so that even more students than before the storm scored unsatisfactory. Eleven grade schools and seven high schools (half) had more than half of their students score at the unsatisfactory level in both English and Math. Schools like these are not doing the community a service. With the exception of OPS PM school, all these failing schools are in the RSD.

Analysis:
Lusher is being established as a substantial new "brand name" in Orleans public education. Franklin, Audubon and Lake Forest are in position to establish and expand their brands as well. We'll have to see if Franklin operator AAEE/UNO tries to gain a measure of control over OPS Baby Ben. As other schools and systems like ACSA develop the positives associated with branding, we can expect continued improvement of our schools. KIPP understands the process but their system requires three years in a city before the brand name is really established.

Until now only the private schools and a few magnet schools had any concept of the power of a brand name. If the goal is to get money to operate, the most powerful tool at a school's disposal is its brand name consisting of its reputation and a powerful alumni. OPS brand remains negative. RSD's brand name is strongly negative creating a situation the new superintendent must turn around.