Education

John F. Pane, Daniel F. McCaffrey, Shannah Tharp-Taylor, Gary J. Asmus, and Billy R. Stokes, Student Displacement in Louisiana After the Hurricanes of 2005:  Experiences of Public Schools and Their Students, The RAND Corporation, 2006

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR430/
"The purpose of this technical report is to provide timely documentation of many of the short-term effects of the movements of students that occurred as part of the displacement of storm victims. The report will help guide educators and policymakers in their ongoing responses to this disaster and preparations for future events. Focusing on the Louisiana public school system, it explores the experiences of the displaced students and the effects of their movements on the state’s public education system during the first academic year following the hurricanes. This study was carried out between October 2005 and September 2006. It reflects the situation in Louisiana schools through the conclusion of the 2005-06 school year. Subsequent changes or developments are not reflected in this report."

American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Stress: An Overview, A Practical Guide for Crisis Response in Our Schools, 2003, p. 115

http://www.schoolcrisisresponse.com/download.htm
This article discusses the types of traumatic stress experienced after a disaster like a hurricane. Further, it describes assessments and treatments for traumatic stress.

U.S. Department of Education, New Support for Families and Areas Affected by Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Department of Education

hurricanehelpforschools.gov/0916-factsheet.html
This newsletter addresses the needs of displaced students and discusses the response of the Department of Education to such needs.

Shirley J. Neeley, District Test Coordinator, ESC Executive Directors, Hurricane Katrina Evacuees and Statewide Testing, U.S. Department of Education, Sept. 15, 2005

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa/comm091505b.html
This letter is intended to clarify a number of issues related to statewide testing of evacuees displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Margaret Spellings, Key Policy Letters Signed by the Education Secretary or Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, Sept. 7, 2005

http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/050907.html
This letter describes available resources of the Department for schools taking in displaced children and provides examples of areas wherein flexibility will be available: waivers and modifications, reallocation of funds, highly qualified teacher requirements; and supplemental appropriations.

GAO, Lessons Learned for Protecting and Educating Children after the Gulf Coast Hurricanes, GAO, May. 11, 2006

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06680r.pdf
This briefing summary examines the challenges of locating missing children after Katrina, locating and serving displaced foster children, and reopening schools and educating school-aged children post-Katrina.

Texas Education Agency, TEA Hurricane Home: FAQ: Education Services for Students Evacuated Due to Hurricane Katrina, State of Texas, Nov. 1, 2005

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/hcane/faq_edsvcs.html
This document outlines information regarding issues such as a student’s enrollment in TX schools; standardized testing requirements; student/teacher ratios; and teacher employment.

Amy Waldman, Reading, Writing, Resurrection, The Atlantic Monthly, Jan./Feb. 2007

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200701/waldman-katrina
“Hurricane Katrina destroyed one of America’s worst school systems and made New Orleans the nation’s laboratory for educational reform.  But can determined educators and entrepreneurs transcend the damage of the flood – and of history?”

Katrina’s Displaced School Children, United States Senate: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sept. 22, 2005, S. Hrg. 109-214

This hearing contains a number of prepared statements regarding school children displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Recovery School District Update, Recovery School District, Sept. 2006

http://www.nolapublicschools.net/rsdupdate_depreciated.aspx?RSDU=773
This document provides registration information regarding Recovery School District schools for the 2006-2007 school year.

Lisa Delpit & Charles Payne, Katrina's Last Victims?, The Nation, Jan. 1, 2007

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070101/delpit
This article addresses the potential downsides of moving to a predominately charter school system.

Susan Saulny, Students Return to Big Changes in New Orleans, With Charter Schools Taking the Lead, New York Times, Jan. 4, 2006, Section A, p. 13, Column 1

This newspaper article addresses the reopening of schools in New Orleans.  The opening of charter schools outpaces the opening of traditional public schools.

Susan Saulny, Rough Start for State's Efforts to Remake Faltering Schools in New Orleans, New York Times, Aug. 21, 2006

Click here for website.

This newspaper article addresses the difficulties faced by students, parents, teachers and administrators as schools reopen in New Orleans. The move toward a decentralized charter school system destroyed the former system of neighborhood public schools.

American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, Teacher Guidelines for Crisis Response, A Practical Guide for Crisis Response in Our Schools, 2003, p. 96

http://www.schoolcrisisresponse.com/download.htm
This article describes the reactions teachers may encounter in children after a disaster like a hurricane. The article also provides suggestions for teachers to deal with children after a disaster/crisis.

George E. Edwards, International Human Rights Law Violations Before, During, and After Hurricane Katrina: An International Law Framework for Analysis, Thurgood Marshall Law Review, Spring 2006, 31 T. Marshall L. Rev. 353

This article takes an international law approach in analyzing human rights violations during Hurricane Katrina.  The article mentions the Convention on the Rights of the Child while discussing the access to education.

Anna Williams Shavers, Katrina's Children: Revealing the Broken Promise of Education, Thurgood Marshall Law Review, Spring 2006, 31 T. Marshall L. Rev. 499

This article discusses how the New Orleans school system was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, how black children are disadvantaged by the current funding scheme for the educational system, and makes suggests for how the system and disaster response can be improved.

David Abramson, Richard Garfield, and Irwin Redlener, The Recovery Divide: Poverty and the Widening Gap Among Mississippi Children and Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina, National Center for Disaster Preparedness & The Children’s Health Fund, Feb. 2, 2007

http://www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu
This study finds the following: the working poor were most vulnerable to Katrina; children have experienced persistent emotional stress; parents and caregivers have reported exceedingly high rates of mental health distress and disability; the rates of uninsured children in Mississippi have drastically increased; and children are becoming more disengaged from school as evidenced by rates of absenteeism.