Case Study

Test Scores Rise Steadily Across Grade Levels in Louisiana School District

Faced with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the Jefferson

Parish Public School System (JPPSS) quickly realized that the

crisis presented a great opportunity—to re-think old ways from

the ground up with the goal of empowering students to thrive in

the 21st century.

JPPSS became one of eight districts in the Cisco 21S (21st

Century Schools Initiative), designed to help rebuild Gulf Coast

districts and at the same time develop a new holistic framework

for change—promoting 21st century skills and improving

traditional academic skills.

System-Wide Change Enabled by Technology Drives Student Improvement

Challenge• Re-thinkoldpatterns

• Preparestudentsfortheglobaleconomy

• Ensuresustainabilityandscalability

Solution• 21stcenturyteachingandlearning

• Student-centeredcurriculum

• Leadershipandprofessionaldevelopment

• System-widetechnologybackbone

impaCt• 5%year-over-yeartestscoreimprovement

• Engagedstudents,enthusiasticteachers

• Technology-supportedlearningenvironment

• Advancedprofessionaldevelopment

• Technologyintegratedintodailyteaching

• School-communityconnection

EDUCATION | teChnologY

Cisco’s Education group is actively engaged in the work of transforming education systems to meet the needs of 21st century learners, educators, and organizations. This transformation will require a shift in the way teachers teach, leaders lead, and students learn.

Opportunity in CrisisIntheaftermathofHurricaneKatrina,schoolsintheJeffersonParishPublicSchoolSystemstruggledtoreopentheirdoors,withmanystudentsdisplacedandmanystaffmembersworkingoutofmakeshiftoffices.However,inadditiontotherebuildingchallenge,thedistrictalsotookontherethinkingchallenge.

AccordingtoSuperintendentDr.DianeRoussel,“Ourinternationalcompetitorsunderstandthekeyroletheireducationsystemsplayinproducingworkerspreparedforagloballycompetitive21stcenturyeconomy.Weneedtounderstandandactonthisunderstandingtoo.Notdoingsowillshort-changeourstudents.”

Theleadershipteamsawanopportunityforchange:“Thestormblewawayalotofthings,includingourfeelingthatwewerestuckwiththingsthewaytheywere.”

AvisiondevelopedjointlybyCisco,thesuperintendent,principals,andteachersdirectedthe21Sinitiative.“Wewereaimingatsomethinglarger—notjusteducationalchange,buteducationaltransformation,”saidMichaelStevenson,CiscoGlobalEducationVicePresident,“designedtogivethe21Sdistrictsthecomponentstomovealongthepathtoward21stcenturypedagogy,training,skills,technology,andleadership.”

Awarethatmanyattemptsateducationreformhadfailedinthepastbecauseofalackofattentiontoscalabilityandsustainability,theteamwasdeterminedtodevelopavisionthatcouldeventuallybereplicatedthroughoutall87schoolsandsustainedovertime.

Building System-Wide ChangeAskeypillarsofthevisionandstrategywereidentified,theteamrecognizedthatsuccesswoulddependonthecomplexinterplayofnumerousfactors—thatnosinglecomponentwouldbringaboutsystem-widechangeonitsownandthatarobustnetworkinfrastructurewouldbeessentialtoenableeverycomponentandmakethevisionareality.

a network platform

TheCisconetworkprovidedtheplatformforchange—theunderlyinginfrastructurethatsupportedallacademicandadministrativefunctions,fromcollaborativelearningtoCiscoIPtelephony,frompodcastingtolivevideostreaming,fromprofessionallearningcommunitiestovideosecurity.ThenetworkbackboneconnectedalltheschoolsandallowedCiscosolutionssuchasUnifiedCommunications,UnifiedWireless,NetworkSecurityandNetworkManagementtobelayeredontop.Thenetworkalsoeliminatedisolatedsilosofactivityandprovidedareplicable,scalable,sustainable,andstandardizedbackbonetomeetthedistrict’sneedsforyearstocome

Classroom technologies

Classroomtechnologies—whichreliedontheInternetconnectivityprovidedbythenetwork—playedanessentialroleinengagingstudents.Thesetechnologiesincludedceiling-mountedprojectors,audiospeakers,interactivewhiteboards,studentresponsesystems,videoconferencing,iPods,Skype,handheldPDAs,scienceprobeware,andwebcameras.

21st Century Skills

TohelpJPPSSstudentsflourishinthe21stcenturyworkplace,theteambuiltavisionthatpromoted21stcenturyskillssuchascreativity,collaboration,problemsolving,andinformationliteracy,aswellaslifeskillssuchasleadership,adaptability,andself-direction.

Student-Centered learning

EngagingInternet-basedactivitieswereincorporatedintothecurriculum,includingpodcasting,blogging,wikis,moviemaking,andon-demandvideo.Interdisciplinarypedagogy,real-worldcurricula,andcollaborativelearninghelpedstudentslearndifficultconceptsandsupportedstudentswithdifferentlearningstyles

“Many school districts want to change, but they fear that this is not the right time. Was the aftermath of Katrina a good time? Many would have said no. But if not now, when?”

Dr.DianeRousselSuperintendent Jefferson Parish Public Schools Louisiana

professional Development

Continuous,job-embeddedprofessionallearningwasprovidedatalllevels,withafocusonmanagingchange,engagingstudents,andimplementingnewtechnologiestosupportteachingandlearning.Thenetworkhelpedsupportprofessionallearningcommunitiesandcareerbuildingopportunitiesforteachers.

leadership

Strongleadershipwasseenaskeytosuccess,withleaderschampioningandmodelingthevisionandleadershiptraininginterwoventhroughout.

an ecosystem of partnerships

Changewasacceleratedbyapartner“ecosystem,”includingtheSchlechtyCenterforEducationReform(leadershipdevelopment),DigitalOpportunityTrust(classroomtechnologyinterns),andOneEconomyCorporation(affordablePCsforfamilies).

Seeing ResultsJPPSShasseenanimprovementinLEAP(LouisianaEducationAssessmentProgram)scoresacrossthedistrict.

AccordingtoDr.Roussel,“TherecentimprovementsinLEAPscoresindicatethatourcurrentinitiativesareworking.”

english language arts – percent Scoring Basic and above (all test-takers)

2007 2008

4thGrade 63.0% 65.1%

8thGrade 49.8% 52.5%

10thGrade 45.2% 46.4%

math – percent Scoring Basic and above (all test-takers)

2007 2008

4thGrade 56.3% 61.4%

8thGrade 44.0% 50.2%

10thGrade 47.5% 47.1%

Inaddition,morestudentsaremeetingpromotionstandardsandadvancingintothenextgrade,andonlineassessmenthasfacilitatedfasterinterventionandindividualizedinstruction.

EducationDevelopmentCenter,anindependentevaluator,hasfoundanincreaseinstudentengagementandteacherenthusiasm.AndtheJeffersonParishEconomicDevelopmentCommitteehasindicateditssupportwithgrantsandfundinginitiatives.

Thedistrictattributesthisimprovedperformancetotheinterplayofmanyfactorsthatacceleratestudentprogress,includingnewtechnologies,engagingstudentwork,andstrongleadership.

AccordingtoDr.Roussel,“Wehaveseenanaccelerationinimprovementthatwecouldnothaveachievedwithtraditionalteachingmethods.”

Withintwoyears,all87JPPSSschoolsbecamepartofthe“digitalschooldistrict”vision,witheveryschoolwiredforconnectivityandeitherabaselineorenhancedtechnologyconfigurationineveryclassroom.

Jefferson Parish Public School SystemloCation:

GreaterNewOrleansarea

numBer of emploYeeS:

5,000

numBer of StuDentS:

46,000

numBer of SChoolS:

87

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All other trademarks mentioned in this document or website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0903R)

Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices.

CCDE, CCENT, CCSI, Cisco Eos, Cisco HealthPresence, the Cisco logo, Cisco Lumin, Cisco Nexus, Cisco Nurse Connect, Cisco Stackpower, Cisco StadiumVision, Cisco TelePresence, Cisco WebEx, DCE, and Welcome to the Human Network are trademarks; Changing the Way We Work, Live, Play, and Learn and Cisco Store are service marks; and Access Registrar, Aironet, AsyncOS, Bringing the Meeting To You, Catalyst, CCDA, CCDP, CCIE, CCIP, CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, CCVP, Cisco, the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert logo, Cisco IOS, Cisco Press, Cisco Systems, Cisco Systems Capital, the Cisco Systems logo, Cisco Unity, Collaboration Without Limitation, EtherFast, EtherSwitch, Event Center, Fast Step, Follow Me Browsing, FormShare, GigaDrive, HomeLink, Internet Quotient, IOS, iPhone, iQuick Study, IronPort, the IronPort logo, LightStream, Linksys, MediaTone, MeetingPlace, MeetingPlace Chime Sound, MGX, Networkers, Networking Academy, Network Registrar, PCNow, PIX, PowerPanels, ProConnect, ScriptShare, SenderBase, SMARTnet, Spectrum Expert, StackWise, The Fastest Way to Increase Your Internet Quotient, TransPath, WebEx, and the WebEx logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.

All other trademarks mentioned in this document or website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0903R)

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Asia Pacific Headquarters Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd. Singapore

Europe Headquarters Cisco Systems International BV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Learn about how you can drive system-wide change in your district, or watch the video on this school district at www.transformglobaleducation.com.

As an education system leader, you can engage in a dialogue with your peers on this and other topics to improve global education. Join the online community at www.GETideas.org.