A lack of student assessments due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic led to school districts not being assigned letter grades indicating their performance during the 2019-20 school year.
The letter grades are usually a key feature in Arkansas Department of Education School Report Cards, the latest editions of which were released Tuesday. But covid-19 forced school buildings to close last spring and federally required state testing was waived, according to a news release.
The pandemic led to a disruption in many districts' ability to report data, the ADE said, but some data regarding graduation rates and college readiness were made available in the report cards.
"While we don't have all the data we would like to have to measure student and school success for the 2019-2020 school year, the 2020 School Report Cards still provide valuable information that can be used to identify best practices and areas that need improvement," said Johnny Key, the state's education secretary. "I encourage parents and educators to review the data and use it to make informed decisions regarding student learning moving forward."
The following 2019-20 school year data for each school district in Jefferson County is not all-inclusive. Additional information for each district can be found at myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov and then clicking "Districts":
PINE BLUFF
The Pine Bluff School District had a lower four-year graduation rate than the state average. While 88.8% of high school Arkansans graduated during the span, only 71.3% in the PBSD finished.
Pine Bluff students taking the ACT averaged a composite score of 15.52 points, which is below the state average of 19.42 points. With only two students taking the SAT College Admission Test, the math mean of 610 points beat the state mean of 573 points, while the critical reading mean of 580 points was just below the state mark of 592 points.
Arkansas posted a 43.2% rate of students going to college in 2019-20. Pine Bluff's rate was 35.4%.
Pine Bluff enrolled 2,921 students with an average class size of 16 students and 14 years' experience per teacher. The district spent $13,330 and the state $10,109 per student.
DOLLARWAY
The Dollarway School District, which will merge with the Pine Bluff district beginning next school year, graduated 74.7% of its students.
The ACT composite average in the Dollarway district was 15.04 points. SAT scores were not available.
Dollarway posted only a 31.7% college-going rate, but the clip for gifted and talented students in the district (71.4%) was higher than the state percentage of 66.4%.
Dollarway's district enrollment was 941 students with an average class size of 13 students and nine years' experience per teacher. The district spends $15,019 and the state $10,109 per student.
WATSON CHAPEL
Kristy Sanders, Watson Chapel School District's K-12 curriculum director, highlighted the district's successes and problem areas.
Sanders said the percentage of English language learners scoring proficient on the ELPA21 test doubled, the rate of 11th-grade students who met the on-time benchmark of 5.5 credits per year increased by 6%, and the percentage of high school students passing an advanced placement class increased by 16%.
The four-year graduation rate for the Watson Chapel School District stood at 80.1%. The ACT composite average in the district was 16.54 points, nearly three points below the state average. SAT averages were not available for the district.
"We want to lower our retention rate and increase our graduation rate," Sanders said. "We plan to do that by focusing on teaching and learning the essential standards that are necessary for students to master in each grade."
The college-going rate of 44.6% in Watson Chapel beat the state mark. For those graduates who were homeless or had a parent connected to the military, the rate was 100% in the district, while only 24.9% of homeless Arkansans who graduated and 50.4% of Arkansas children with a military parent went to college.
Watson Chapel had an enrollment of 2,233 students with an average class size of 16 students and 12 years' experience per teacher. The district spends $10,173 and the state $10,109 per student.
WHITE HALL
The White Hall School District posted a 92.5% four-year graduation rate, surpassing the state rate of 88.8%. Students in the district who took the ACT scored a composite average of 19.5 points, slightly higher than the state average of 19.42 points.
"In our overall ACT scores, we've done very well," Superintendent Doug Dorris said. "I think we had seven students who have scored 30 or above."
For the SAT, critical reading and math means of 573 points and 547 points were just below the state averages of 592 points and 573 points, respectively.
The rate of students going to college from the district was 51.2%, nearly 8 percentage points higher than the state rate.
Dorris credits a Virtual Friday program for helping high school students gain more instruction. The program allows virtual or regular high school students to visit with teachers for one-on-one sessions each Friday. He said between 50 and 100 students attend the program.
A summer school for K-12 students will begin in June.
White Hall had an enrollment of 2,971 students with an average class size of 18 students and 15 years' experience per teacher. The district spends $9,353 and the state $10,117 per student.
"Under all the circumstances, I think we're doing very well," Dorris said.
The ADE on Tuesday also announced the launch of the Statewide Community Resources Portal. The department partnered with the Arkansas Department of Human Services to help community organizations across Arkansas post information for school children and their families to attain much needed support services amid the pandemic.
The website is: adedata.arkansas.gov/scr. Community organizations can post their info by clicking "Statewide Supplemental Community Resources."