An Arkansas Department of Education panel voted Wednesday to take no action against the Covenant Keepers Charter School in southwest Little Rock despite the school being classified by the state agency as academically distressed.
The Charter Authorizing Panel, made up of top-level staff in the department, took the vote after hearing from representatives from the school, the Education Department and consultants about the steps the 189-student school has taken this year to raise academic achievement.
The school serves sixth- through eighth-graders. It is authorized to serve a maximum enrollment of 380.
Cody Decker, the department's assistant commissioner and chief information officer, initially made the motion to take the matter of the school "under advisement" until January, when the school's existing three-year charter comes up for renewal before the Charter Authorizing Panel and the Arkansas Board of Education. The charter is currently due to expire after the 2015-16 school year.
Kendra Clay, an attorney for the department, said the motion constituted no action against the school, and Decker agreed to modify the motion to say that.
Covenant Keepers, which was opened in 2008-09, was classified by the state Board of Education as academically distressed because less than 50 percent of its students scored at proficient levels on state math and literacy exams over the three-year period of 2011-13 and again for 2012-14 period.
For the most recent three-year period, 46.64 percent of students scored at proficient levels on the state exams.
The school is one of 22 schools in the state to be so classified. The Little Rock School District in which Covenant Keepers is located was taken over by the state and its School Board dismissed because six of its 48 schools were classified as academically distressed.
Eric Saunders, the department's assistant commissioner for fiscal and administrative services, made a substitute motion to place the school on probation, which would have resulted in a notation on the school's record. That motion received no second.
Valerie Tatum, the school's founder, described for the panel the efforts underway at the school. Those efforts include new curriculum programs -- Engage NY and Expeditionary Learning -- that are more challenging and based on new math and literacy education standards adopted by more than 40 states.
Additionally, teachers are using a standardized lesson planning template and have established a routine of weekly student testing, analyzing the test results and collaborating on instruction.
The school also has contracted with a mental health services provider to serve students at the school on a daily basis, instituted a demerit system to rein in school rule violations, built in an hour of daily tutoring and/or enrichment activities, and directed services to the 20 percent of students who are nonnative English speakers.
"The differences are not in the students," Tatum said about students in her school and in the surrounding Little Rock district. "The differences are what the teachers bring to the table to give to our kids every day."
Richard Wilde, the Education Department's school improvement program manager, said he did not initially perceive much improvement at the school, but that assessment has improved over time. He suggested probation and more reporting from the school.
"They are comparable to the schools in which those kids would be attending, but they are smaller in size," Wilde said. "The community they serve is very positive about the safety of their children. I would say they are making gains, and they are serving a niche."
Scott Smith, executive director of the Arkansas Public School Research Center that serves as a school improvement consultant, said it is unacceptable for any school, particularly an independently operated charter school, to be in academic distress.
"The issue for you today is how are they responding to their academic distress scenario and what evidence they are putting before you that they are moving out of academic distress and performing well," Smith said. "It doesn't make sense to close a school if it might be a good model of making good progress with a concerning population and is showing evidence of things that could be helpful to this school and other schools."
Metro on 04/16/2015