More Resources Photos

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today participated in an education policy roundtable meeting with Gov. Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek to discuss No Child Left Behind and the gains made by students in New Orleans and across the country. To commemorate Catholic Schools Week, Secretary Spellings also visited St. Peter Claver School, where she toured classrooms and addressed a school assembly.

During her visit, Secretary Spellings also announced a $2.6 million School Improvement Grant for Louisiana to help turn around low-performing schools. This grant will help Louisiana take a greater role in developing and delivering comprehensive leadership and technical assistance to help reform schools and districts that are not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

"We can be proud of the change No Child Left Behind has brought to education in this nation," said Secretary Spellings. "Now all 50 states and the District of Columbia have assessment systems, report disaggregated data and target federal resources to serve their neediest students. NCLB has been part of an historic grassroots movement, supported by a unique alliance, to equip every child with a high quality education. It's an American Imperative, and it's time to build on the momentum that No Child Left Behind helped to generate."

At the roundtable, Secretary Spellings discussed a new tool recently released by the U.S. Department of Education, Mapping Louisiana's Educational Progress 2008, which provides a comparative look at the state's key No Child Left Behind indicators. Louisiana is making gains under No Child Left Behind, as achievement continues to increase in grades 3-8. The recent Nation's Report Card also shows achievement gaps shrinking significantly in many categories, such as between white and black fourth-graders in math and reading. Also, a high percentage of eligible students participate in free tutoring and public school choice, well above national averages.

Secretary Spellings also noted opportunities for improvement that could help build on Louisiana's progress such as raising high school achievement, increasing the number of highly qualified teachers in core academic classes and improving the high school graduation rate.

In her remarks at St. Peter Claver School, Secretary Spellings said, "St. Peter Claver is a great example of the type of work Catholic schools have done and continue to do here in Louisiana after the hurricanes. America's Catholic schools are national treasures. I commend them for their dedication to preparing all students for our global knowledge economy. With their help, we will achieve our national imperative of providing every child with a quality education by 2014."

St. Peter Claver Catholic Central School is a Pre-K to 8th grade elementary school, which currently has 300 students enrolled with 21 teachers on staff. Over 65 percent of the students are from Orleans Parish and 77 percent are Catholic. St. Peter Claver School opened its doors in 1921, dedicated to the proposition that African-American children can and must excel in mathematics, science and basic communication skills. After Hurricane Katrina, St. Peter Claver became a centralized school, due to the fact that many schools could not re-open after the hurricane. The school took in all students who applied without regard for religion and without asking for tuition.

The 2008 Catholic Schools Week theme is "Catholic Schools Light the Way," which highlights the mission of Catholic schools to provide a faith-based education that supports the whole child academically and spiritually and prepares students for success. The President announced in the State of the Union that he would be hosting a White House Summit on inner city children and faith-based schools this spring. The summit will bring together faith-based leaders, state and local policymakers, non-profits, foundations, and business leaders to discuss this important issue, identify promising practices, and foster discussion in communities across the country.

To view Mapping Louisiana's Educational Progress 2008, please visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/la.html.

For Mapping America's Educational Progress 2008, please visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/nation.html.

###

Top

Back to January 2008