Lusher
Elementary School first opened its doors in 1913. Initially, the school
provided elementary education to students in kindergarten through
6th grade. Over the years, the school has evolved both in terms of
diversity - with the school's PTSA petitioning to have Lusher be the
first integrated public school in 1960 - and educational programming
that has developed into an award-winning arts-based curriculum. With
its evolving curriculum came a change in the school's name in the
mid-1970s to Lusher Alternative Elementary School. Subsequently, the
school expanded its student population to include 7th and 8th graders
in middle school.
More
recently, in September 2005, the landscape of Lusher changed yet again
when the school applied for and was accepted as a Type 3 conversion
charter school in the New Orleans Public School system. The student
population is now slated to include those in kindergarten through
the 12th grade on two campuses - kindergarten through 5th grade is
at the Willow campus and 6th through 12th grade at Lusher's recently
acquired Fortier campus. The mission of Lusher Charter School is to
provide a developmentally appropriate learning environment in which
high academics, comprehensive arts education, and the celebration
of individuality and diversity enable each child to achieve as a learner,
a person, and a valuable member of society.
Lusher
Charter School offers a replicable model of what's right in the New
Orleans Public School system. Using a curriculum rooted in visual
arts, dance, music, theatre, and other disciplines, Lusher is able
to engage its students in the learning process while achieving optimal
academic results. In many ways, Lusher has been a pioneer in the arts-based
education movement, particularly in the state of Louisiana. The school
first began incorporating arts into its curriculum in 1980 and has
been honored as one of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts' 2003 Creative Ticket National 
Schools
of Distinction, an award given annually to a few select schools the
Kennedy Center finds to have an excellent arts curriculum. Lusher's
innovative approach to education is further validated through research
noting that, "...learners can attain higher levels of achievement
through their engagement with the arts."* The Champions of Change
report further indicates that engagement in the arts nurtures the
development of cognitive, social, and personal competencies.**
The
school also boasts recognition from the Louisiana Department of Education,
as it has been named a School of Academic Distinction as conferred
according to its school performance score (SPS). The SPS measure takes
into account student test scores and school attendance. Of particular
note are Lusher's 8th grade math scores, which are the highest in
Louisiana.
For
the past several decades, Lusher School has been in the vanguard of
innovative and successful educational institutions in Louisiana. The
school has implemented cutting-edge reforms in arts-based education,
positive discipline programs, the latest neurological development
and brain research, a systematic approach to literacy and numeracy
instruction, extensive after-school programs, and a collaborative
site-based leadership structure. These reforms have produced significant
and measurable results, including a steady increase in school performance
scores and a 68% reduction in the 
number
of students reading below grade level. In fact, Lusher had the largest
percentage of 8th graders in the state scoring at advanced levels
on the standards-based Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP)
tests that measure how well students are mastering specific skills
in mathematics, science, and social studies.
Moreover,
when compared to district and state institutions over the last 5 years,
Lusher's 4th and 8th grade students have consistently outperformed
their peers in Orleans Parish and across Louisiana. Data are particularly
encouraging for Lusher's economically disadvantaged and minority populations.
The Louisiana Department of Education compiled a report on Lusher
in accordance with the reporting requirements of the No Child Left
Behind Act, which holds both states and schools accountable for yearly
progress in student performance. This report outlined the proficiency
status of Lusher for the 2004-2005 school year and notes that 79.2%
of its economically disadvantaged students were proficient in English
Language Arts, and 88.9% were proficient in Math. For minority groups
at Lusher, proficiency percentiles in English Language Arts were 88.2%
for African Americans and 100% for Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders.
In Math, 92.8% of African Americans were deemed proficient, and 100%
of Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders were proficient. In addition,
the report shows that Lusher is meeting or exceeding students' growth
targets for all at-risk subgroups.***
Results
from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) also show that Lusher's
students have surpassed both district and state averages for achievement.
The ITBS is a norm-referenced test, meaning that it measures how well
students in Louisiana scored in comparison to their peers nationwide.
The results show that Lusher's 8th graders in all ethnic groups outscored
the overall national average and the average within each individual
ethnic group.
Lusher's
approach to education is clearly one that meets the needs of its diverse
student population, as evidenced by its faring better academically
than its district, state, and national counterparts. Because the school
does not take a one-size-fits-all approach to educating its students,
Lusher is able to reach a cross section of racially, socio-economically,
and academically diverse youth. Moving forward, Lusher will continue
to measure the level of achievement for all of its students using
the Louisiana Department of Education's school performance score,
LEAP standardized testing, ITBS norm-referenced testing, and No Child
Left Behind Act accountability reporting. The school anticipates continued
academic achievement for its at-risk populations, including economically
disadvantaged and minority students.
* Fiske, E.B. (Ed.). (1999). Champions
of change: The impact of the arts on learning. Jointly produced by
The Arts Education Partnership, The President's Committee on the Arts
and Humanities, The John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and
the GE Fund.
** Ibid.
*** Louisiana Department of Education.
(January 2006). 2004-2005 School Accountability Subgroup Component
Report: Lusher Elementary/Middle School. Available online at http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/pair/ReportCards05pa/subgroups/scr036079.pdf