This study sought to identify major school improvement reform programs and initiatives in Louisiana during the period of 1997 to 2005. The criteria used to identify each program included: state funding that averaged at least $2 million per year in state funds; programs that affected teachers and students for school improvement purposes; and, programs that remained in place for at least two school years. The study ultimately yielded nine initiatives that met each of the above listed criteria. Some, but not all, were the result of the School and District Accountability Commission, which was established by Act 478, the 1997 Louisiana School and District Accountability Act. These initiatives in alphabetical order are Community Based Tutorial Program; Distinguished Educators; K-3 Reading and Math Initiative; Louisiana Teacher Assessment & Assistance Program; Learning Intensive Networking Communities for Success; Local Teacher Quality; Regional Education Service Centers; Remediation; and, State Testing/ Accountability.
The present study was conducted in three phases. Phase One consisted of a document search and identification. Results of the document analysis provided a foundation for Phase Two. Using content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004), the text of laws passed by the state legislature, policies created by BESE, and documents published by the LDE were examined to determine the intent, goals, longevity, and sources and levels of funding of the various mandated school improvement initiatives. In Phase Three, semi-structured interviews were conducted with former personnel and officials of the LDE, which added depth to the findings from the document analysis and were used for triangulation purposes. As mentioned, the results of the content analysis conducted in Phase Two were used to frame the interview protocol used in Phase Three.
Data from the document analysis and the interviews revealed three issues relevant to the states policymaking efforts in the school improvement arena: conflicts with stakeholders erupted over turf; program instability stymied effects; and, the lack of a shared mission also impacted effects. This study offers several recommendations to policy makers in Louisiana addressing these issues and concludes with recommendations for future research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04092009-003951 |
| Date | 15 April 2009 |
| Creators | Cambre, Belinda Marie |
| Contributors | Susan Teddlie, Noelle Witherspoon, Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, Eugene Kennedy, Joe Kotrlik, Dianne Taylor |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04092009-003951/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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