Education In Louisiana Research Articles

Foreign language education in Louisiana: A cluster analysis

AbstractLouisiana is currently the only state in the United States that requires foreign language (FL) study for some, but not all of their high school students, and these requirements are undergoing seismic changes. Considering that geographic, economic, and integration factors contribute to whether a school can provide FL at all—and biased counseling dissuades minoritized students from taking FL—this study asks: has FL education been equitably accessible to all Louisiana high school students who want to pursue it, regardless of race or economic background? To address this question, this paper presents results from two analyses. First, program‐internal equity variables (e.g., [dis]similarity between school‐wide and FL student demographics) were clustered to produce “profiles” of FL programs. Next, a multinomial logistic regression using program‐external factors (e.g., federal funding status, desegregation orders) was conducted to isolate the factors impacting equity. Federal funding and rurality were both found to be significant, with schools receiving federal Title I funds and rural schools being much more likely to exhibit inequitable access to FL courses. In (a) identifying schools with enrollment inequities and (b) the outside factors associated with greater inequity, this paper aims to provide policymakers with empirically based tools to address (in)equity in Louisiana high school FL education. These findings can be especially helpful in light of the state's recent (2023‐2024 school year) expansion of FL requirements to accept computer science courses.

Ban the Box in Higher Education: Lessons From Louisiana on Changing Laws and Leading Movements

In 2017, Louisiana became the first state to pass legislation to remove criminal history questions from college applications, commonly known as ban the box in higher education. This victory hinged on the work of two advocates, Syrita Steib, Founder and Executive Director of Operation Restoration, and Annie Phoenix, PhD student at Tulane University and Co-founder of Operation Restoration. The following article is a reflection on the process to pass ban the box in higher education in Louisiana and lessons learned to support others to engage in criminal legal system reform. We hope that this article serves as inspiration for other women impacted by incarceration, and nonimpacted supporters to use their voices to fight for liberation and to end the collateral consequences that prevent people with convictions from accessing education and other opportunities.

Accelerating Remedial Education in Louisiana

AbstractThis chapter describes the implementation and outcomes of a multiyear pilot study on the use of the corequisite model in math and English remediation. Practical recommendations are presented after an analysis of student outcomes and institutional practices.

Sarah L. Hyde. Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Sarah L. Hyde. Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde

Reviewed by: Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde Allison Fredette Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. By Sarah L. Hyde. ( Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2016. Pp. xvi, 212. $42.50, ISBN 978–0-8071–6420-4.) In Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, Sarah L. Hyde dispels the myth that white southerners showed little interest in education or public schools before the Civil War. Through an analysis of "lessons and learning" in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, she argues that southerners worked hard to overcome the obstacles of their "frontier-like" environment and provide their children with an education (p. 2). In her most innovative chapters, Hyde shows that these states also appropriated government resources for schools, first private schools and then public schools, before the war. Hyde admits that southern public schools lagged behind northern schools and that southern education was never universal, as it was illegal for free people of color and the enslaved to attend public schools. Nonetheless, she shows that white southerners invested more in public education than historians have previously acknowledged. Using manuscript collections, memoirs, and government documents, Hyde weaves together the stories of parents, teachers, pupils, governors, legislators, and education advocates to reveal the various forms of schooling in the antebellum Gulf South. Hyde first explores the role of learning inside the southern home, especially through the use of tutors and family members. Southerners who lived in rural communities embraced this system as it was an adaptable form of education. She then focuses on one of the earliest forms of antebellum southern education: the private school. In the Gulf South, private schools "provided one of the most consistent and dependable means of learning" (p. 25). Thus, early government subsidies for education went to private schools and academies. State legislatures even appropriated money for poor children to attend free of charge, but few accepted these funds because of social stigma. Still, Hyde argues, these attempts reveal that southerners had a "clear belief that state governments bore some responsibility for helping to bring basic instruction to their younger constituents" (p. 46). When limited funding failed to provide adequate access to education, state legislators, encouraged by their constituents, worked to create statewide public school systems. Hyde argues that as universal white manhood suffrage expanded with Jacksonian democracy, demands for universal access to education [End Page 159] intensified. Public schools in urban centers like New Orleans, Louisiana, Natchez, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama, provided a model for statewide public school systems. With economic growth after the Panic of 1837, states were able to devote their resources to building public schools in meaningful ways. Still, progress was not constant. For example, in 1852, when wealthy planters regained power in Louisiana, the new state constitution drastically curtailed funding for public schools, leaving these institutions in an uncertain state as the Civil War approached. Hyde has written a detailed narrative that aptly describes the development of public education in the antebellum Gulf South. Her research, especially in the political world of public school funding and administration, is impressive. However, in a few places, her book falls short. As her copious citations reveal, historians certainly have not ignored the role of education in southern life, and Hyde may overstate the extent to which subjects like relatives providing home schooling have been "almost entirely overlooked" (p. 8). She also argues that historians have failed to acknowledge how southern voters demanded education, regardless of their legislators' wishes. Yet some of her evidence appears to contradict her point. She repeatedly describes how some areas established "successful schools that served large numbers of children while other locales had trouble procuring accommodations, finding teachers, and attracting students" (p. 110). Finally, this reader would have liked a more thorough analysis of how gender and class influenced the education that different southern students received. Nonetheless, Hyde has written a book that is sure to challenge conventional thinking about public schools in the South. Allison Fredette Appalachian State University Copyright © 2018 The Southern...

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde

Reviewed by: Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde Kim Tolley Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. By Sarah L. Hyde. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2016. xiii, 212 pp. $42.50. ISBN 978-0-8071-6420-4. Historians generally overlook the early public school systems established in the former Confederate states. Most studies of public schooling display a regional bias, focusing primarily on developments in New England. This is not to say that historians have been completely unaware of early efforts to establish free, tax-supported schools in the South. For instance, in Education in the South (Chapel Hill, 1924), Edgar W. Knight documented the existence of "free schools" in states like South Carolina and Georgia during the antebellum period. But like many other scholars since, he depicted antebellum southern public schools as suffering from neglect and concluded that not until the first decades of the twentieth century did the southern states seriously devote themselves to the task of educating their children. By and large, depictions of southern education have been tinged with contempt and condescension. Given this historiography, it is not surprising that few scholars have placed southern education at the forefront of their research agendas. [End Page 261] In this book, Sarah L. Hyde makes an important contribution to a small but growing body of recent research on the extent and significance of southern pre-college education in the antebellum era. Drawing from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, government publications and other sources, Hyde demonstrates that starting in the 1820s and 1830s, state legislators in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama increased access to education by providing public funding to subsidize private schools willing to enroll poor students, and local urban governments encouraged education by establishing public schools. By 1860, all three states had established statewide public school systems. The six chapters in the book are organized both thematically and chronologically. The first two chapters investigate various forms of private education, from home schooling to tutoring and instruction in private schools. Chapters Three and Four analyze early legislative efforts to increase access to education and describe the origins of the first urban public schools. Chapter Five documents the establishment of statewide public school systems, and Chapter Six depicts student life and learning in private and public institutions. The book also includes an introduction and conclusion, appendix, notes on sources, and a bibliography. Hyde advances several arguments to demonstrate that southerners valued education. She cites the early legislation passed in the Gulf South states as evidence, noting that when antebellum legislators "became aware of their constituents' commitment to their children's education [they] responded by enacting statutes to help support local schools" (45). These statutes, which chartered hundreds of academies and subsidized schooling in private school for poor students, laid the groundwork for the later development of statewide systems of education. According to Hyde, state governors and legislators used the language of republicanism to support the expenditure of public funds for education. Although she does not make comparisons in this book between developments in the Northeast and in the South, the examples she provides of the arguments southerners advanced [End Page 262] in support of public schooling are similar to those of the northern reformers cited by Carl E. Kaestle in Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860 (New York, 1983)—in both regions, antebellum advocates for public schools argued that with the right to vote, white men required an education that would equip them to be intelligent and enlightened citizens. Hyde also has an answer to scholars who have concluded that southerners did not adequately fund their educational institutions because they were unwilling to pay taxes to support public schooling. The Panic of 1837 devastated state funds devoted to education in the Gulf South, as happened in other regions of the country. Additionally, partisan political debates sometimes led southerners to refuse federal monies that could be used for schools. She notes that in 1844, as part of the compromise that had earlier brought an end to the Nullification Crisis, the...

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde

Reviewed by: Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde Hilary N. Green (bio) Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. By Sarah L. Hyde. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2016. Pp. 240. Cloth, $42.50.) Sarah Hyde’s Schooling in the Antebellum South is a refreshing intervention in the understanding of public education across the antebellum Gulf South states. Previous scholarship has often misconstrued a lack of pre-collegiate institutions in those states as an absence of learning and a sign that white southerners did not place cultural value on education. By examining Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, Hyde reveals that formal and informal learning was common in the region. White southerners utilized a range of private and public options, and their popular support of education prompted the statewide implementation of public schools before the Civil War. Over six chapters, Hyde argues that “the history of education in the Gulf South prior to the Civil War shows that people there valued education and made considerable progress in developing school systems that most white children could access. The story of these developments offers important insight into the worldview of the people inhabiting the region and deserves inclusion in the larger narrative of southern history” (6). Hyde begins her work with an in-depth discussion of the two most prevalent modes of learning: home instruction and private schooling. Chapter 1 explores the daily instruction that was undertaken within the home by private tutors, parents, and other family members. Although this form of schooling was often underappreciated by early scholars, Hyde takes seriously how home education allowed white southerners to overcome the obstacle of scattered settlement patterns to provide their children and other relatives with an education at a relatively low cost. Mothers, older siblings, and even white northern male tutors provided generations of children with an education ranging from the basic rudiments to the most [End Page 134] advanced curriculum. More important, home education allowed southern families to benefit from their children’s labor and life in the agricultural South. Hyde concludes that the robust nature of home instruction demonstrates neither an absence of learning nor a lack of cultural importance placed on education by white southerners. In chapter 2, Hyde moves her discussion to private schools, which she shows provided the most consistent mode of instruction in the three states under review. State legislatures, local governments, and even white planters relied on these private institutions “to carry the burden for educating the majority of southern children” (25). Even when state legislatures created public school systems, Hyde contends that private institutions remained essential. Though politics and the effects of the Panic of 1837 dictated the ability of the Gulf South states to financially support schools, Hyde demonstrates how the urban centers of New Orleans, Mobile, and Natchez functioned as the “genesis of public education” (69). Of the three cities, Hyde contends that New Orleans served as the model for the other two, as well as for the Gulf Coast states, region, and nation as a whole. All three, though, served as models for their respective states. Hyde successfully weaves quantitative charts with qualitative analyses of the typical school day, teacher salaries, curriculum, and local officials’ ability to secure both city and private funding to show how urban schools thrived before the Civil War. Collectively, white popular support of home instruction, private schools, and urban schools convinced state legislatures to establish public school laws and the necessary infrastructure once the states had recovered from the Panic of 1837. Tension between state and local control influenced the widespread expansion of public schools throughout the respective states over the following two decades. As an early pioneer, the Louisiana legislature modified the bureaucratic operational system and funding models to the detriment of most parish districts, with New Orleans being an exception. Strong local leadership and additional funding streams allowed that city’s schools to overcome the legislature’s interference. Yet the modifications made by the Alabama and Mississippi legislatures enabled a more efficient system in those states and increased civic pride in...

Innovation in Austere Times: Louisiana's Call Program

The state budget for public higher education in Louisiana was reduced 55 percent from 2008-2016. Colleges in the state decreased payrolls, eliminated or consolidated 387 degree programs, and dramatically shifted the burden of paying for college from the state to individuals and families through a series of budget cuts and tuition hikes. Despite this depletion of resources available to higher education, interest surged in programs offered through the Center for Adult Learning in Louisiana (CALL). This multi-university consortium began to offer online baccalaureate degrees in a range of social science majors including Sociology, Family and Child Studies and Criminal Justice. This program allowed adult learners to pursue their degree online without putting their lives on hold. The program’s success was due in large part its alignment with a key statewide education goal: to improve the graduation rate among Louisiana’s college student population.

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama

Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde

Reviewed by: Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Sarah L. Hyde Alisha Johnson Schooling in the Antebellum South: The Rise of Public and Private Education in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. By Sarah L. Hyde. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2016. 240 pp. Cloth $42.50. Asserting that "one must jettison the historiographical bias that measures all academic progress in relation to the establishment of schools in Massachusetts," Sarah Hyde treats us to a long-due examination of white education in the antebellum South (170). Such a conceptual reorientation is fundamental to Hyde's central claim that education was valued and sought by Southern inhabitants during this period, a conclusion that has been obscured in critical comparisons of Northern and Southern educational achievement. Hyde's referenced body of literature further makes the point; the topic appears to have long ago fallen out of vogue under the presumption of Southern apathy toward education—there's nothing to see here, folks. Stepping back from the customary focus on outcomes as a means for determining inhabitants' intentions, however, the author reopens the conversation by highlighting Southerners' persistent efforts to expand schooling during this period. Hyde chooses Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as representative settings by which to better understand the broader Southern educational context during this time. Several common threads run throughout these three cases. Most notably, schools were established at the insistence of community members. According to Hyde, in the 1840s Southerners began to see access to schooling as a right, and they "demanded that their state governments provide it" (105). Hyde traces the roots of statewide public schooling to early successful urban efforts in New Orleans, Mobile, and Natchez. These efforts provided blueprints for schooling across each state as lawmakers and citizens agitated for state-sponsored public schooling. Interestingly, Carl Kaestle (1980, 1983) and Nancy Beadie (2008) have pointed out a reverse trend, but a common process, in the North; common schooling began not in the cities, but in rural locales. In the urban South constituents were able to exercise their consolidated political will to move local and state governments on their demands. Likewise, Northern rural communities rallied their collective will and resources around the local schoolhouse. [End Page 468] To this end, Hyde uses governmental and voting records, to illuminating effect. In all three locations, governors regularly lobbied state legislatures for greater action in establishing state-sponsored school systems. Nonetheless, progress was consistently achieved as a result of community will. As evidence, Hyde points out that Louisiana and Mississippi governors held much greater power than did Alabama's governor, yet Alabama alone ultimately realized a stable statewide system. The author reasons that this was because Alabama legislators were more directly accountable to the public will. Moreover, Hyde contends that local administrative control was instrumental to the quality and operation of schools across the state; absent local administrations accountable to state-level authority, many schools foundered and closed. This work promises to open up renewed inquiry as it presents several opportunities for further study. To begin with, although the title alludes to a focus on schooling, the author takes an expansive view of education in the South. A full chapter is spent on home instruction. Indeed, universal common schooling was yet a relatively new innovation and children received formal instruction in myriad ways prior to its advent. Relying on modest evidence, exploration of informal education is difficult, but it is an integral part of the American educational legacy ripe for further exploration. Likewise, the author spends some time exploring private schooling, and there is still much to be known about this venue in the Southern antebellum context. Until the development of state-sponsored public schooling, formal education was obtained almost entirely in private schools. In many states, such as Louisiana, this mode of education proliferated even after the advent of public schooling, further supporting Hyde's claim that Southerners valued education. One difficulty touched upon by the author also begs further study: class certainly played a substantial role in the Southern social and economic hierarchy. Hyde points out the wealthy elite's frequent opposition to public school funding as the larger community...

Schooling In The Antebellum South: The Rise Of Public And Private Education In Louisiana, Mississippi, And Alabama

Schooling In The Antebellum South: The Rise Of Public And Private Education In Louisiana, Mississippi, And Alabama

Recent Trends in Geography Education in Louisiana

Geography at elementary and middle schools in Louisiana, USA., remains a social studies strand along with civics, economics, and history, with no state-required geography course at any level. But because schools may require more geography than the state standard, this research examines the extent to which K–12 students are exposed to geography in Louisiana, using an electronic survey and an interview with state department of education officials. Results suggest that geography remains underemphasized, but the 2011 implementation of new social studies standards, the Advanced Placement Human Geography course, and other initiatives offer promise for more geographically literate Louisiana citizens.

The Looting of the American Dream: The Post-Katrina Rubble of Public Education in Louisiana

The mishandling of pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina rescue and recovery is stunningly similar to the mishandling by those who have been in charge of Louisiana public education over the past seven years. This includes the devaluing of the teaching profession, the rise of the marketization of education, and the minimizing of the common good. In this article, the authors contend that the ‘reformers’ leading the current political infrastructure have over-extended their power, leaving in their wake a rubble that will impact the lives of Louisiana's citizens well beyond their terms.

Errata

Gansle, K. A., Noell, G. H., & Burns, J. M. (2012). Do student achievement outcomes differ across teacher preparation programs? An analysis of teacher education in Louisiana. Journal of Teacher Education, 63, 304-317. (Original doi: 10.1177/0022487112439894)

Your Life, Your Health!: Chronic Disease Self-management Education in Louisiana

Your Life, Your Health!: Chronic Disease Self-management Education in Louisiana

Do Student Achievement Outcomes Differ Across Teacher Preparation Programs? An Analysis of Teacher Education in Louisiana

Achievement outcomes for students taught by recent program completers of Louisiana’s teacher preparation programs (TPPs) are examined using hierarchical linear modeling of State student achievement data in English language arts, reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. The current year’s achievement in each content area is predicted using previous achievement data, student characteristics, classroom characteristics (e.g., percentage of students with disabilities), school characteristics, and attendance of teachers and students. The contribution of a teacher having recently completed a specific TPP is modeled at the classroom level as an indicator variable for each TPP. Results for programs with 25 or more new teachers are reported. Results demonstrate substantial overlap in confidence intervals (CI) among programs. In some instances, 68% and/or 95% CI for programs in specific content areas did not overlap results for the average new teacher or experienced teachers (i.e., they were lower than average new teachers or higher than average experienced certified teachers). Results varied across content areas for some programs.

Using Education Informatics to Improve Library Services to Doctoral Students: An Embedded Approach

Introduction For more than a decade libraries have struggled to provide effective library training for both undergraduate and graduate students. While much of the focus has been on undergraduate students, usually, graduate students and specifically doctoral students are at a disadvantage because it is generally assumed that doctoral students are self-directed learners capable of independent research (Green & Macauley, 2007). However, many researchers (Boote & Beile, 2005; Tunon & Ramirez, 2010) have acknowledged that very often doctoral students lack the requisite library research skills. These problems are enhanced when institutions are faced with serving doctoral students who also happen to be taking classes online or from a distance. Researchers Tunon and Ramirez (2010) assert that effective library service to doctoral students can be the difference between an ABD (All But Dissertation) and an EdD (Doctorate of Education). This article will discuss the efforts made to provide effective library services to the (EdD) students at Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern). Background and Institutional Context Southeastern is located approximately 50 miles north of New Orleans. This university began in 1925 as a grass roots movement by the people of Hammond and the surrounding area. Southeastern has since grown to meet the evolving needs of southeast Louisiana and the Florida parishes and now has an enrollment of approximately 15,000. Southeastern is largely a commuter campus and is considered the second largest provider of distance education in Louisiana. In fall 2006, Southeastern added its first doctoral program in Educational Leadership, offered in consortium with the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (Southeastern Louisiana University Profile, 2006). Graduate doctoral students at Southeastern in Educational Leadership need information literacy skills. The average graduate student in this group is returning to school after an extended period, and, therefore, lacks the appropriate sets of skills required to be successful. For example, these students use course readings, Google, and Wikipedia for their primary sources. Since these limited sources are inadequate, the students may begin the research process engaged and curious, but become frustrated and overwhelmed as it progresses. Additionally, Southeastern students are served in cohorts and do not have many opportunities to come to campus and, therefore, interact with other cohorts or have face to face contact with the librarian. The literature is replete with indications that the doctoral students are in need of more than the traditional one-shot Bibliographic Instruction (BI) (Li, 2007). They need periodic interaction with a librarian. The Embedded Librarian provides this opportunity. Linus A. Sims Memorial Library (Sims) is a medium-sized academic library of Southeastern and serves as the main library of the campus. Each librarian serves as liaison to one or more academic departments on the campus. The purpose of the library liaison program is to build relationships with faculty members and provide personal communication about library sources, information literacy, and collection development. The library liaison program gives faculty a personal contact in the library and facilitates collaboration. The Problem Doctoral students are in need of more than just one-shot Bibliographic Instruction sessions (BIs). At Sims, several attempts were made to provide effective information literacy and library support to doctoral students. Initially, the Education liaison conducted orientation in the form of a one-time three-hour workshop during the second semester. When asked for feedback, the students revealed that, while this session was very helpful, they wished the information had been provided earlier. As a result, the timing of the one-shot three-hour workshop was adjusted to occur earlier by placing it in the first semester. …

The Relationship Between Content Area General Outcome Measurement and Statewide Testing in Sixth-Grade World History

The purpose of the present study was to extend validity research on a content area general outcome measurement tool known as vocabulary matching. Previous research has reported moderately strong to strong correlations between the group-administered vocabulary-matching measure and a standardized assessment instrument. The present study extended the validity research to a statewide accountability assessment. A diverse sample of 146 sixth-grade students from a rural middle school were administered three vocabulary-matching probes and the sixth-grade iLEAP ( integrated Louisiana Educational Achievement Program) social studies criterion-referenced test at different times. Strong correlations were reported between the two measures. Moreover, vocabulary-matching achievement patterns with respect to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and exceptionality status were similar to those of the iLEAP. Alternate-form reliability correlations between the three probes were also strong. Research implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.