Education Improvement is Possible with Louisiana Program

The Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives is an entity in Louisiana that strives to use new ideas to improve the schools in this state. It is headed by Scott S. Cowen, who is Tulane University's current president. Of course, the ideas that are found to work well may eventually be used by those in every state, but the current focus is the local public school system that teaches kindergarten through 12th grade. Not only does this organization get help from Tulane staff members and students, but it has also partnered with major universities around the nation, such as Harvard, Emory, and Brown, to name a few.

One of the main areas that the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives is working on is applied research. The point of this is to determine how best to measure the performance of local public schools. Once a few methods are figured out, the idea is to observe and record the improvement made by the schools. The next step is to gather researchers who are also interested in improving schooling, as they can help continue the process and allow other school districts to implement the necessary changes, as well.

Another area that the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives focuses on is public policy, which helps ensure that the necessary laws are made to further the improvement in education. Those involved in this objective research the laws that would help schools, and do their best to ensure that they are passed. Additionally, this area focuses on obtaining funding for schools in the area.

College readiness programs are also known to help improve the quality of schooling, which is why the objective is to create such plans. For example, math and science programs are created in order to encourage students to pursue their interests in these subjects, readying them for college courses in the process. Finally, the area of university-based initiatives was created to get the community involved in improving school in general.

It is the hope of Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives that the quality of schooling can be improved through these main areas of focus. Of course, it is expected that improvements will take some time, but the program is considered a start. Once it is obvious that the efforts have paid off for this state, it is likely that the plan will also be implemented elsewhere so that the entire country can share in the benefits of the program.