Adam Hawf & Jamar McKneely, via a kind Deb Britt email:

Adam: That makes you a great person to answer this question: what are the key changes you have seen in education in New Orleans since 2002?

Jamar: In 2002, there were a lot of teachers working extremely hard for the students of Orleans. But, there were two areas that stopped our students from achieving high academic results, in my opinion. One was the lack of autonomy given to leaders to make onsite decisions based on the deficiencies of our students. Second was the lack of strong professional development opportunities to help our teachers process data and develop strategies to help our students learn. Now above all, I think we have a renewed sense of hope when it comes to education. I feel like we have a lot of creative energy where individuals are really fighting for kids. You see so many creative approaches to reaching students—innovative things like personalized learning. Schools have a major focus on data to help students grow academically. Autonomy has made a huge difference for us. Leaders are able to make decisions that are based on the kids’ best interest. And—this part is ironic because I was a member of the teachers union—accountability has replaced tenure and now our teachers have to perform every day for our youth. It is important that we understand that when we’re working with students, every day counts.

Adam: Those are all positive changes. What did we get wrong over the same period?