Bednar takes post at LR's Baptist Prep
Laura Bednar, the deputy superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District, is resigning that position to become the head of school for The Baptist Preparatory School in Little Rock, effective July 1.
Baptist Prep is the name for what was previously known as Arkansas Baptist School System.
Bednar, 50, has worked in education for 29 years, holding her current position since 2013. She was assistant commissioner for learning services in the Arkansas Department of Education from 2010 to 2013, and she is a former Stuttgart School District superintendent.
Bednar currently serves as president of the Arkansas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. She has also served as an adjunct professor for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and as a state council member for the Southern Regional Education Board.
In a recent memorandum to district employees, Bednar wrote that she needed to make a change. "I'm realizing how fragile each day is, and how short life really is," Bednar said. "I also have a three-month-old grandson I rarely get to see 'in person,' and that has to change!"
Clayton Vaden, chairman of the board of trustees for The Baptist Preparatory School, said the board's unanimous selection of Bednar for the leadership job is "a great fit."
"Baptist Prep is recognized for providing our students with an excellent college-preparatory education in a Christ-centered environment. Dr. Bednar is recognized as an educational leader, and she has a deep abiding faith in Jesus Christ," Vaden said.
Bednar's daughter is a 2013 graduate of the 35-year-old college preparatory school.
ACT Aspire to grant students more time
Complaints about insufficient time to complete the ACT Aspire tests this spring have led to plans to lengthen the testing periods in the 2016-17 school year, Arkansas Department of Education leaders said recently.
ACT Inc., the maker of the Aspire tests that are given in grades three through 10 in Arkansas, has decided to add five or 10 minutes to most testing periods.
The math testing period will be 65 minutes to 75 minutes, depending on the grade level, in 2017, making it 10 minutes longer than it was this past spring. The English test will be 10 minutes longer for grades three through five and five minutes longer for sixth grade through high school. Times for reading and science are being extended by five minutes. There is no change in the time for the writing component of the test.
Additionally, there will be an increase in multiple choice questions on the English test for grades three, four and five. The multiple choice questions will increase in math in those same grades, but one of the long-answer or constructive response questions will be removed.
Hope Allen, the Arkansas Education Department's special adviser on assessment, reported the changes recently to the Arkansas Board of Education.
Arkansas schools and districts are expected to receive the results of the 2016 ACT Aspire tests later this summer. About 285,000 Arkansas students took the online ACT Aspire exams.
12 schools selected as innovation hubs
The Arkansas Department of Education has approved 12 state schools to be designated as "Schools of Innovation" starting with the 2016-17 school year.
Schools of Innovation are those in which school faculty develop a proposal that provides for better delivery of instruction to students and that requires waivers of some state laws and rules. The faculty must vote to approve the proposal before it is submitted to the Arkansas education commissioner for final approval. A total of 21 schools submitted proposals this year.
The newly approved schools are Greenwood Junior High, Kirby High, Lakeside Middle in Garland County, Lake Hamilton Alternative Learning Education School, Newport High, Pangburn High, Prescott High, Stuttgart High, West Fork High, West Fork Middle, White County Central High and Wynne Intermediate.
Those additions will bring the total to 27 schools of innovation. A total of 11 were approved in 2014-15, the first year such schools were permitted, and four more were approved for 2015-16.
Metro on 06/16/2016