Education Desk

As New Orleans continues to reform and reshape public education, WWNO seeks to highlight teachers who bring unique talents and perspectives to their work. We'll feature one such educator each month.

Dixey Faciane teaches gifted pre-Kindergarten at Benjamin Franklin Elementary and draws on her inner child.

Voices of Educators is supported by Entergy.

Summer is in full swing, but that doesn't mean New Orleans schools are not on the minds of many people. As the city continues to reform and reshape public education, WWNO seeks to highlight teachers who bring unique talents and perspectives to their work. We'll feature one such educator each month.

Glenda McQueen teaches AP language at New Orleans Charter Science & Mathematics High School. She strives for true intellectual growth in her students.

Voices of Educators is supported by Entergy.

Girl Scouts Louisiana East recently held its second annual STEM Extravaganza. The event is designed to get girls excited about science, technology, engineering and math — fields typically dominated by men. Girl Scouts from grades K-12 came to the event, held at Dillard University.

This school year, teachers around the country changed their curricula to meet the new Common Core standards, a national set of standards mapping out what students should learn in math and English language arts.

Math teachers covered fewer topics in greater depth. English teachers cut back on fiction and assigned more supplemental readings — articles and essays that gave more context to, and offered up opinions about, classic works of literature.

WWNO continues its series "Behind the Test" with a look at standardized testing through the lens of test anxiety. In the weeks leading up to the LEAP test, teachers do a lot to prepare students: drilling them on crucial skills, giving out practice tests, even holding pep rallies to boost confidence. But what about preparing students to cope with test-related anxiety?

Brittany Healy is leading a small group of fifth graders in a guided imagery activity. They’re sprawled out on a couch and sunken into bean bag chairs. Eyes shut, arms loose at their sides.

This story has been updated.

A group of lawyers, students and parents have filed a civil rights complaint against three local charter schools. They're asking state and federal officials to investigate the discipline policies at Carver Preparatory, Carver Collegiate Academy and Sci Academy, all operated by Collegiate Academies. These schools have the highest suspension rates in the city.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation recently held auditions for its free music school. Called the Don "Moose" Jamison Heritage School of Music, the program offers high level music instruction for students ages 10-17.

Students meet on Saturday mornings and train to perform at local festivals and venues. Producer Mallory Falk brings us this audio postcard from the audition.

New Orleans will soon become the first city with an all-charter school district, but the education landscape looks much different across the rest of Louisiana. Many parishes have few or no charter schools, but that's starting to change.

The Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools recently hosted Apply Yourself!, a three-day training for people who want to start charter schools. Most people at the training were not from New Orleans, and many are trying to start the first charter school in their parish.

Monday marks the first deadline to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Throughout the country, health care navigators are helping people with the enrollment process. In New Orleans, they're working hard to reach as many people as possible, spending time outside shopping malls, corner stores... even the airport.