LITTLE ROCK — FAST FACTS The Smart Accountability labels are:◊achieving: meeting standards for this year;
-alert: missing standards for the first year;
-targeted improvement: meeting standards for the combined population, but missing standards in math or literacy for 25 percent or fewer subgroups;
-whole school improvement: missing standards for the combined population or in more than 25 percent of the subgroups;
-targeted intensive improvement: targeted improvement schools that continue to miss standards for four years;
-whole school intensive improvement: whole school improvement schools that continue to miss standards for four years;
-and state directed: both targeted improvement and whole school improvement schools that continue to miss standards for five years or more.
See the chart on Page 2 for a listing of schools in the Three Rivers area that fall under each label.
Schools in Jacksonville, Augusta and Newport are the furthest behind in meeting federal No Child Left Behind testing standards in the Three Rivers coverage area.
Along with the announcement Friday on how students at Arkansas schools performed on the math and literacy Benchmark and End-of-Course exams in spring 2009, the Arkansas Board of Education unrolled a new rating system designed to give the public a better idea of where their schools stand, said Tom Kimbrell, Board of Education commissioner.
Under the Smart Accountability system, for example, Newport School District’s Gibbs Albright Elementary School is labeled “targeted intensive improvement year five, restructuring,” which means that the school is failing to keep up with testing standards among a specific subgroup - in this case, literacy scores among economically disadvantaged students - rather than among the whole student population.
Because it has failed to keep up with standards for five years, the statehas the right to come in and restructure the district.
Newport Junior High School is labeled “whole school intensive improvement year five, restructuring,” which means the whole school or several subgroups have failed to meet standards. Under the old system, both schools would have been labeled “school improvement year five.”
“What we’re trying to do with the program is better explain things to the public,” Kimbrell said. “[For example, with ‘targeted improvement’ schools], it’s not the general population. With ‘whole school improvement,’ those are the ones where the public is going to say, ‘what’s the issue here?’ We want to give this back to the public.”
The other “whole school intensive improvement” schools in the Three Rivers area are Jacksonville Elementary School (year four, for combined math and literacy scores), Jacksonville Middle Girls School (year five, counting before the middle schools were split by gender, for math scores among black students and students with disabilities and literacy scores among students with disabilities) and Jacksonville’s Murrell Taylor Elementary School (year four, for combined literacy scores).
Along with 55 schools statewide, which is up from 16 last year, there are three Three Rivers schools that are “state directed” schools, the worst distinction, reserved for schools that fail to keep up with standards for more than five years: Augusta Elementary School (year seven), Jacksonville High School (year six) and North Pulaski High School (year six). As a whole, Pulaski County Special School District is in year twoschool improvement, along with 12 other districts statewide. There are 41 districts in the state that have systematically not met standards for one or more years.
The Smart Accountability labels are:
-achieving: meeting standards for this year;
-alert: missing standards for the first year;
-targeted improvement: meeting standards for the combined population, but missing standards in math or literacy for 25 percent or fewer subgroups;
-whole school improvement: missing standards for the combined population or in more than 25 percent of the subgroups;
-targeted intensive improvement: targeted improvement schools that continue to miss standards for four years;
-whole school intensive improvement: whole school improvement schools that continue to miss standards for four years;
-and state directed: both targeted improvement and whole school improvement schools that continue to miss standards for five years or more.
The sanctions the state can implement become more invasive with each label. For example, at Newport’s Gibbs Albright Elementary School with its “targeted intensive improvement year five, restructuring” label, the state could choose to retrain faculty, rearrange the school’s budget to pay for new programs, implement a three-year improvement plan, extend the school day/school year, restructure the internal organization of the school, create a school within a school, reopen the school as one or several public charter schools, replace all or most of the school staff and administrators or have an outside entity operate the school.
At schools like Newport Junior High and the Jacksonville Middle Girls School that fall under the “whole school intensive improvement year five, restructuring” label, the state has a similar battery of tools at its disposal, but invasive actions like replacement of the principal become more likely, especially if the principal has been in place since the school first started falling behind. The state may also hire a school improvement specialist that will supervise the principal on a part-time basis at the school’s expense.
Such sweeping changes and direct state involvement become even more likely with state-directed schools.
“We don’t like to use the word ‘penalties,’” Kimbrell said, adding that the state’s goal is to provide schools with the tools they need to help students achieve.
Kimbrell said schools will likely continue to struggle with the tests because standards get tougher every year. The 2008-2009 standards depend on the grade and the test, but range from 56 to 64 percent of students who must score at grade level or above. Arkansas has 1,081 public schools; 407 have missed standards for more than one year.
Hoxie Elementary School and Searcy School District’s Southwest Middle School actually improved test scores since 2008, moving off the school improvement list to become “achieving” schools.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 requires all students to achieve at grade level in math and literacy by the 2013-14 school year. The legislation requires schools to make specific gains each year, known as adequate yearly progress - AYP, which is raised each year. Friday’s list was the annual AYP report.
The subgroups tracked by the report are: white, black, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, English language learners and students with disabilities. A school must have 40 students in a subgroup to constitute its tracking. Students are counted under multiple subgroups.
More information, including the full school report list, lists from previous years, a chart of the sanctions that can be applied under each classification and explanations of the Smart Accountability ranking system are available online at www.arkansased.org under testing, NoChild Left Behind and Adequate Yearly Progress.
Explanation of Smart Accountability labels, sanctions and ranking of Three Rivers schools◊ Achieving Schools: Meet standards for this year - no sanctions. 498 schools statewide, 81 in the Three Rivers coverage area Augusta School District’s Cotton Plant Elementary School Bald Knob High School Batesville School District’s Central Elementary School Batesville School District’s West Elementary School Bradford Elementary School Bradford High School Cabot School District’s Eastside Elementary School Cabot School District’s Central Elementary School Cabot School District’s Westside Elementary School Cabot School District’s Southside Elementary School Cabot School District’s Northside Elementary School Cabot School District’s Ward Central Elementary Cabot School District’s Magness Creek Elementary Cabot School District’s Stagecoach Elementary SchoolCabot School District’s Academic Center for Excellence Calico Rock Elementary School Calico Rock High School Cave City Elementary School Cave City School District’s Evening Shade Elementary School Cave City Middle School Cave City Intermediate School Cedar Ridge School District’s Cord-Charlotte Elementary School Concord Elementary School Concord High School Cushman High School Heber Springs High School Heber Springs Middle School Highland School District’s Cherokee Elementary School Highland High School Highland Middle SchoolHoxie Elementary School Imboden Area Charter School Izard County Consolidated Elementary School Izard County Consolidated High School Izard County Consolidated Middle School Jackson County School District’s Swifton Middle School Jackson County School District’s Tuckerman Elementary School Jackson County School District’s Tuckerman High School Mammoth Spring Elementary School Mammoth Spring High School McCrory Elementary School McCrory High School Melbourne Elementary School Melbourne High School Melbourne School District’s Mount Pleasant Elementary School Midland Elementary School Midland High School Mountain View Elementary School Mountain View Middle SchoolMountain View High School Mountain View School District’s Rural Special Elementary School Mountain View School District’s Rural Special High School Mountain View School District’s Timbo Elementary School Mountain View School District’s Timbo High School Pangburn Elementary School Pangburn High School Pocahontas Junior High School Pulaski County Special School District’s Bayou Meto Elementary School Pulaski County Special School District’s Warren Dupree Elementary School Pulaski County Special School District’s Tolleson Elementary SchoolPulaski County Special School District’s Pinewood Elementary School Pulaski County Special School District’s Arnold Drive Elementary School Quitman Elementary School Riverview School District’s Judsonia Elementary School Riverview School District’s Kensett Elementary School Riverview High School Riverview Junior High School Rose Bud Elementary School Salem Elementary School Salem High School Searcy School District’s Sidney Deener Elementary School Searcy School District’s McRae Elementary School Searcy School District’s Southwest Middle School Searcy High School Searcy School District’s Westside Elementary SchoolSouthside Elementary School Twin Rivers School District’s Williford Elementary School West Side Elementary School West Side High School White County Central Elementary School Woodlawn Elementary School◊Alert: First year not to meet standards - no sanctions. 176 schools statewide, 18 in Three Rivers coverage area Bald Knob School District’s H.L.
Lubker Elementary School Batesville Junior High School Batesville High School Batesville School District’s Eagle Mountain Elementary School Batesville School District’s Sulphur Rock Elementary Beebe High School Cabot High School Cabot Middle School South Cabot Junior High NorthCave City High School Cedar Ridge School District’s Newark Elementary School Cedar Ridge High School Cushman Elementary School Quitman High School Rose Bud High School Twin Rivers School District’s Oak Ridge Central Elementary School White County Central High School Woodlawn High School◊ Targeted Improvement: Schools that meet standards at the schoolwide level, but do not meet the standards among its subgroups - Schools must adopt steps to address the needs of all low-performing students, specifically research-based interventions for its subgroups. “Achieving year one, two or three” schools have met the standards for the 2008-2009 school years, but must continue to meet standards to be classified as “achieving.” 140 schools statewide, 12 in Three Rivers coverage area Bald Knob Middle School - achieving, year two Beebe Elementary School - achieving, year one Beebe Junior High School - year two Beebe Middle School - year two Beebe Intermediate - achieving, year one Cabot Junior High South - achieving, year two Cabot Middle School North - achieving, year three Pocahontas School District’s Alma Spikes Elementary School - achieving, year twoPocahontas High School - year one Pocahontas Upper Elementary School - achieving, year two Searcy School District’s Ahlf Junior High School - year three, corrective action Southside Middle School - achieving, year two◊Whole School Improvement: Schools that do not meet standards at the schoolwide level or among more than 25 percent of its subgroups - Schools must adopt systematic interventions for the whole school. 113 schools statewide, nine in Three Rivers coverage area Augusta High School - achieving, year two Heber Springs Elementary School - year three, corrective action Hoxie High School - year one Newport School District’s Castleberry Elementary School - year two Newport High School - year two Pulaski County Special SchoolDistrict’s Jacksonville Middle Boys School - year two Southside High School - year one Twin Rivers School District’s Oak Ridge Central High School - year one Twin Rivers School District’s Williford High School - year one◊Targeted Intensive Improvement: Schools that meet standards among the combined population, but miss standards among subgroups for four years or more. State intervention becomes less collaborative, more invasive. 32 schools statewide, one inThree Rivers coverage area Newport School District’s Gibbs Albright Elementary School - achieving, year five◊ Whole School Intensive Improvement: Schools that do not meet standards at a schoolwide level or among more than 25 percent of subgroups for four years or more. State intervention becomes less collaborative, more invasive. 64 schools statewide, four in Three Rivers coverage area Newport Junior High School - year five, restructuring Pulaski County Special School District’s Jacksonville Elementary School - year four Pulaski County Special School District’s Jacksonville Middle Girls School - year five, restructuring (note: The record of scores at the Girls school includes figures from before the boy-girl split) Pulaski County Special School District’s Murrell Taylor Elementary School - year four◊ State Directed: Schools that miss standards for more than five years become state directed schools. 58 schools statewide, three in the Three Rivers coverage area Augusta Elementary School - year seven Pulaski County Special School District’s Jacksonville High School - year six Pulaski County Special School District’s North Pulaski High School - year six - Information from the Arkansas Department of Education, www.arkansased.org
Three Rivers, Pages 51 on 10/15/2009