Reading scores are up among the state’s youngest learners. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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A National Council on Teacher Quality report says Louisiana teachers are less diverse than its population. Sean Richardson has more.
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An Opelousas man was arrested after fleeing a Youngsville mental health facility on foot, stealing a school bus and causing a four-vehicle crash in Lafayette on Sunday night. Lafayette PD Senior Corporal Ashley Wood says 26-year-old Marion Baker has been identified as the suspect.
Cut 3 (10) “…collision with four vehicles.”
Lafayette P-D reports several individuals received moderate injuries as a result of the crash.
Wood says following the collision, Baker fled the scene and stole a truck from a bystander who had stopped to help.
Cut 4 (11) “…by law enforcement.”
Wood says Baker is currently being held without bail in Lafayette Parish Jail.
Cut 5 (09) “…as well as theft.”
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Students in kindergarten through third grade are improving their reading scores, thanks to a new focus on phonics-based literacy instruction. Dr. Jenna Chiasson (CHASS-on), the deputy superintendent at the State Department of Education, says those students improved their reading proficiency by more than two percentage points.
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Dr. Chiasson says several factors are contributing to the rise in reading proficiency among those children.
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Dr. Chiasson says tutoring has also helped improve reading scores, with kids getting individualized instruction. She says better reading scores at the early levels will set those kids up for success later in their education and, in effect, later in life.
Cut 8 (14) “…are indeed working.”
Last year’s kindergarten class improved their reading scores by more than 20 points as first graders.
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Louisiana’s teacher workforce is significantly less diverse than its population of college-educated adults, according to a National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) report. Teach for America Executive Director Ge’ron Tatum says some of this is due to limited pathways and elimination of teacher prep programs.
Cut 9 (07) “…teacher pay is inadequate,”
Louisiana teachers earn 5-thousayd-dollars less than the Southern regional average and 15-thousdand dollars below the national average, deterring people of color from entering or staying in the profession. Tatum stress that representation matters, as research shows teachers of color significantly benefit student outcomes.
Cut 10 (11) “…leads to great results.”
Tatum says to address this, strategies include recruiting from historically Black colleges, offering financial support to prospective teachers.
Cut 11 (15) “…entering the profession.”
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Three people are dead, including two children, as a result of a head-on collision between an SUV and a pickup truck on L-A 25 in Washington Parish. State Police Trooper Marc Gremillion says the adult who was killed has been identified as 42-year-old Tequilla Santee. Gremillion says the two children who died were 11 and three years old…
Cut 12 (10) “…deceased on the scene.”
The three people killed were in 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe and they were from Covington. Gremillion says a Chevy Silverado heading in the opposite direction struck the Tahoe head-on. The 18-year-old driver of the Silverado was critically injured and so were two other passengers in the Tahoe.