NEW ORLEANS – The Greater New Orleans Foundation released a study it said will provide a “roadmap” for how schools and community partners can increase resources, coordination, partnership and investments to improve student support and performance at NOLA Public Schools. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Baptist Community Ministries provided support for the study titled: “New Orleans School Partnership Study: What Our Students Need and How We Can Help.”
“The Greater New Orleans Foundation is proud to lead this partnership to help identify solutions to pressing issues facing our city and region,” said Andy Kopplin, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “The education of our young people is the foundation of a thriving community and while we have made real progress, we have so much more to do together so every young person in our city receives a high quality education. This study highlights the urgent needs and recognizes the impact of racial inequities while identifying opportunities for collective investment, partnership and support of students, teachers and families.”
Square Button Consulting LLC in partnership with national nonprofit Education Resource Strategies and the Spears Group were commissioned to produce the study. Starting in December 2018, researchers engaged students, parents, teachers, and community providers through quantitative and qualitative analysis. Researchers gathered additional local and national data while conducting a landscape analysis of services and resources that currently exist and their capacity. Acknowledging recent efforts by NOLA Public Schools and partners, the study identified the most urgent student support needs as mental health counseling, trauma-informed teaching and support for students learning English and with special needs. The study also concludes that teachers needs more support to stay in their roles and develop as professionals.
“At NOLA Public Schools, we know that there is great potential in the collective power of the New Orleans community’s support of our schools citywide, said NOLA Public Schools superintendent Henderson Lewis, Jr. “And that is why we welcomed the opportunity to work with the Greater New Orleans Foundation to review where more support and coordination is needed to help our schools increase their impact now and in the years to come. The results of the study highlight four areas where our schools need additional resources, coordination, partnership and investment to improve how we support students citywide. And while I am encouraged that we at the district have efforts underway in each of these areas, I am looking forward to continuing to build solutions with our partners citywide.”
