Data

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Performance on State Assessments
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Performance on State Assessments (ACT Aspire)

The following link contains district and school level achievement based on the following state assessments:

ACT / AP
ACT Aspire
ATLAS (Arkansas Teaching, Learning & Assessment System)
Benchmark (Spring, Grades 3-8, Subtests in Mathematics, Literacy, and Science for grades 5 and 7 only)
Norm Referenced (Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), Stanford Assessment Test (SAT))
End-of-Course (Spring/Winter, Algebra, Biology, Geometry and Literacy (Grade 11 only))
PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, grades 3-12, Math and Literacy, replacing the Benchmark and End-of-Course Exams that were previously administered for these subject areas.)

All data is publicly available through the Arkansas Department of Education.

2023 OEP Growth Awards!

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This week, OEP is pleased to recognize Arkansas schools demonstrating Outstanding Educational Performance. OEP awards are different than other awards because we focus solely on student academic growth. Unlike other indicators of school performance, academic growth is not very correlated with school demographics. This means it is reflective of what students are learning in school, not what challenges they may face due to out of school factors.

Here at OEP, we choose to highlight student academic growth because we believe that it is the best reflection of the impact that a school is having on students’ academic success.

Highest Overall Growth: Elementary Level

The top elementary school for overall student growth is Pottsville Elementary from Pottsville School District, with an overall growth score of 91.67. Pottsville Elementary also took the top spot for growth in math at 93.40. Green Forest Elementary from Green Forest School District had the highest growth score in ELA at 91.54.

Highest Overall Growth: Middle Level

The top middle school for overall student growth is Bentonville’s Lincoln Junior High , with an overall growth score of 86.69. Bentonville’s Washington Junior High took the top spot in math with a growth score of 90.47. Students in LISA Academy Middle in Rogers-Bentonville demonstrated the greatest growth in ELA at 87.87.

Highest Overall Growth: High School Level

The top high school for overall student growth is Haas Hall Bentonville , with an overall growth score of 85.37. Haas Hall Academy at the Jones Center was in the top spot for math at 88.25. Students at Arkansas School for the Blind High demonstrated the highest growth in ELA at 85.55.

 

Below we list the Top 20 Elementary, Middle/ Junior High, and High Schools for 2023.  We include the percentage of students eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (% FRL) and the recently assigned school letter grades.  *Asterisks indicate how many times the school has been in the top 20 for overall growth in the prior 5 years of OEP awards.*

The 20 elementary schools with the highest overall content growth are:

 

    • Pottsville Elementary, Pottsville (41% FRL)  Letter Grade: A****

    • Emerson Elementary, Emerson-Taylor-Bradley (49% FRL)  Letter Grade: A

    • Genoa Central Elementary, Genoa Central (40% FRL)  Letter Grade: A**

    • Parkview Elementary, Van Buren (54% FRL)  Letter Grade: A**

    • Mountain Springs Elementary, Cabot (29% FRL)  Letter Grade: A

    • Stagecoach Elementary, Cabot (45% FRL)  Letter Grade: B***

    • Root Elementary, Fayetteville (13% FRL)  Letter Grade: A*

    • Vilonia Primary, Vilonia (51% FRL)  Letter Grade: B

    • Don Roberts Elementary, Little Rock (23% FRL)  Letter Grade: A**

    • Green Forest Elementary, Green Forest (83% FRL)  Letter Grade: B***

    • John Tyson Elementary, Springdale (71% FRL)  Letter Grade: A***

    • Center Valley Elementary, Russellville (48% FRL)  Letter Grade: A**

    • Apple Glen Elementary, Bentonville (21% FRL)  Letter Grade: A

    • S.C. Tucker Elementary, Danville (76% FRL)  Letter Grade: A*

    • Vilonia Elementary, Vilonia (43% FRL)  Letter Grade: A

    • Maumelle Charter Elementary, Academics Plus Public Charter Schools (25% FRL)  Letter Grade: A

    • Carolyn Lewis Elementary, Conway (51% FRL)  Letter Grade: A***

    • Hunt Elementary, Springdale (54% FRL)  Letter Grade: A*****

    • Ward Central Elementary, Cabot (68% FRL)  Letter Grade: B**

    • Chenal Elementary, Pulaski County Special (23% FRL)  Letter Grade: A

    • Westside Elementary, Cabot (68% FRL)  Letter Grade: B**

    • Washington Elementary, Fayetteville (51% FRL)  Letter Grade: B

The 20 middle/junior high schools with the highest overall content growth are:

 

    • Lincoln Junior High, Bentonville (22% FRL) Letter Grade: A*****

    • Washington Junior High, Bentonville (25% FRL) Letter Grade: A***

    • LISA Academy Rogers-Bentonville Middle School, LISA Academy (26% FRL) Letter Grade: A

    • Vilonia Middle, Vilonia (47% FRL) Letter Grade: A**

    • L. A. Chaffin Middle, Fort Smith (54% FRL) Letter Grade: A***

    • LISA Academy North Middle, Lisa Academy (60% FRL) Letter Grade: B***

    • Woodland Junior High, Fayetteville (26% FRL) Letter Grade: A*

    • Forrest City Junior High, Forrest City (80% FRL) Letter Grade: D

    • eStem Junior High, eStem Public Charter (68% FRL) Letter Grade: C*

    • Valley Springs Middle, Valley Springs (44% FRL) Letter Grade: A****

    • Gravette Middle, Gravette (35% FRL) Letter Grade: A****

    • Atkins Middle, Atkins (66% FRL) Letter Grade: B*

    • eStem East Village Junior High, eStem Public Charter School (72% FRL) Letter Grade: C*

    • Bright Field Middle, Bentonville (9% FRL) Letter Grade: A**

    • LISA Academy Springdale, LISA Academy (66% FRL) Letter Grade: B*

    • Pea Ridge Middle, Pea Ridge (34% FRL) Letter Grade: B*

    • KIPP Delta College Preparatory School, KIPP Delta Public Schools (92% FRL) Letter Grade: C

    • Quitman Middle, Quitman (51% FRL) Letter Grade: B

    • Hope Academy Of Public Service, Hope (84% FRL) Letter Grade: B

    • Ray/Phyllis Simon Middle, Conway (64% FRL) Letter Grade: B*

The 20 high schools with the highest overall content growth are:

 

    • Haas Hall Bentonville, Haas Hall Academy (4% FRL)  Letter Grade: A*****

    • Haas Hall Academy Jones Center, Haas Hall Academy (17 % FRL)  Letter Grade: A**

    • Rural Special High, Mountain View  (67 % FRL)  Letter Grade: A**

    • Star City High, Star City  (62% FRL)  Letter Grade: C

    • Haas Hall Academy At The Lane, Haas Hall Academy (15% FRL)  Letter Grade: A****

    • Drew Central High, Drew Central  (65% FRL)  Letter Grade: C

    • Berryville High, Berryville  (69% FRL)  Letter Grade: C

    • Decatur High, Decatur  (71% FRL)  Letter Grade: C

    • Southside Charter High, Southside  (Independence) (51% FRL)  Letter Grade: B*

    • Cave City High Career & Collegiate Preparatory School, Cave City  (72 % FRL)  Letter Grade: B*

    • Booneville High, Booneville  (67% FRL)  Letter Grade: C*

    • Concord High, Concord  (51% FRL)  Letter Grade: B****

    • Conway Junior High, Conway  (56% FRL)  Letter Grade: A*

    • Malvern High, Malvern  (66% FRL)  Letter Grade: C*

    • Dardanelle High, Dardanelle  (64% FRL)  Letter Grade: B***

    • Dermott High, Dermott  (94% FRL)  Letter Grade: D

    • Waldron High, Waldron  (66 % FRL)  Letter Grade: C

    • Greenland High, Greenland  (67% FRL)  Letter Grade: C

    • Arkansas School For The Blind High, Ark. School For The Blind (40% FRL)  Letter Grade: Not Assigned*

    • Oark High, Jasper  (85% FRL)  Letter Grade: C*

    • Jasper High, Jasper  (61% FRL)  Letter Grade: B**

    • Walnut Ridge High, Lawrence County  (45% FRL)  Letter Grade: C

Three of these top 20 schools have been on our list every year since 2017, indicating that students in these schools are persistently demonstrating the highest levels of improvement year after year. Forty-three have been our top 20 list at least once before. We celebrate the 19 schools on the list that are newcomers – showing that growth scores can improve over time. These schools, and others included in the full report, are growing student’s academic performance at the very highest levels. Way to go!

If your school wasn’t on this list, you can see how they stack up in our letter grades data visualization or a downloadable dataset for all schools in the state.

Congratulations to all our schools demonstrating Outstanding Educational Performance.

 

—————Stay tuned to learn about more OEP Award Winners!————–

On October 10th we will release the 2023 awards for high growth schools serving high poverty populations, those who are “Beating the Odds!”

NWA School Landscape Analysis

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OEP is pleased to share new research about the school landscape in Northwest Arkansas. This report, developed in partnership with TNTP and the Walton Family Foundation examines school quality in NWA regionally, and compares the quality of area schools to the nation and the state. The report al provides district scorecards that examine differences in student outcomes both between schools as well as within schools.
 
The report finds that NWA schools compare favorably to similar schools nationwide, and perform better than average schools in the state. Among schools in NWA there are significant variations in student outcomes between schools.  There are also pronounced differences in student outcomes within the same school between students from lower-income families and their peers.
 
The main student outcomes included in the report are academic achievement and academic growth, which we describe briefly below.
  • Achievement reflects how well students perform on state tests measuring grade-level skills in English language arts and mathematics. Schools serving more advantaged students typically receive “good” achievement scores because a high percentage of their students passed, while schools serving a larger percentage of students who lived in poverty, participated in special education, or were learning English often receive lower scores because a higher percentage of their students were unable to pass the test.
  • Growth is a measure of how much students’ scores on these assessments improve over time. Using growth as a measure of school success levels the playing field because all students are evaluated by the extent to which they grow from their own starting point; thus, students facing socioeconomic barriers to achievement have the same opportunity for growth as do their peers from advantaged backgrounds. All students can grow their understanding, and we should expect all schools to foster student growth, regardless of family income, first language, or learning needs. 
 
The first part of the report provides a regional perspective and information about the data used for the analyses. When compared to the rest of the nation, NWA schools rank at the 63rd percentile for achievement, the 56th percentile for annual academic growth, and the 46th percentile for academic growth over time.
  • NWA schools have higher achievement than the state overall
  • NWA schools increase student learning at rates similar to that schools across the country
  • Access to high-quality schools varies by district.
  • Students from lower-income families and students of color typically attended lower quality schools than their peers in NWA, but higher-quality schools than similar students across the country.
  • There are pronounced differences in student achievement and academic growth within the same school between students from lower-income families and their peers. The majority of NWA schools, however, provided economically disadvantaged students with experiences that were better than average for all students statewide.
 
Here at OEP we are especially interested in the part of the report that provides information about students’ academic achievement and academic growth by district and school. The figure below uses data from the report to present percentiles for academic growth and achievement for the 19 districts and public charter systems in NWA. We have ordered districts by the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch (%FRL), which is a proxy measure for the percentage of students enrolled in the district who face economic disadvantages outside of school.
Figure 1.  Median statewide percentiles for growth and achievement, by district, 2022.
We believe that high growth is the best reflection of a quality school. We prefer to focus on growth because it is essentially unrelated to student experiences outside of school. This is in contrast to achievement, because the percentage of students who pass state assessments is generally strongly related to the percentage of students experiencing poverty at home (aka % FRL). Academic growth reflects the learning that is going on in classrooms, which is why we give OEP awards to schools where students are demonstrating the highest growth.
 
In the figure above, we can see that Haas Hall, Founders Classical, Bentonville School District, and Fayetteville School District are in the highest percentiles of student academic growth (indicated by the green bar) AND student achievement (indicated by the orange bar). Rogers School District and Springdale School District serve a much higher percentage of students experiencing economic disadvantages than the districts listed above, but demonstrate similarly high levels of student academic growth! Although we highlighted these six districts, any district above the 50th %tile for growth is improving students’ learning more than the average school in the state. As students progress through a school system, higher rates of academic growth will lead to increased achievement.
 
For each NWA district, the report includes two analyses that drill down to the school level and illustrate each school’s performance for economically disadvantaged students and non-economically disadvantaged students. This matters to us here at OEP because it shows the differences in learning outcomes and opportunities between the “haves” and “have nots” within the same school. Below we highlight schools that are demonstrating high achievement and growth for the students who face economic disadvantages.
 
Which schools in NWA had the highest achievement for all students?
As we noted earlier, achievement is highly correlated to the population of students served at the school. NWA has many schools where non-economically disadvantaged students demonstrate high achievement, but only ten schools where economically disadvantaged students achieve at or above the level of their more advantaged peers in a typical school in Arkansas.
The schools where economically disadvantaged students demonstrate very high achievement are:
  • Bentonville School District’s Willowbrook Elementary, Bright Field Middle, and Washington Junior High
  • Founder’s Classical Academies in Bentonville
  • Haas Hall Academy, Haas Hall Bentonville, and Haas Hall at the Lane
  • Rogers School District’s Janie Darr Elementary and Eastside Elementary
  • Springdale School District’s John Tyson Elementary
 
Which schools in NWA achieved the most growth for all students?
The report identifies 32 schools throughout the region where both economically disadvantaged students and non-economically disadvantaged students are demonstrating academic growth in the top 25% of schools statewide. These high-growth schools are distributed throughout the region and are as follows:
  • Bentonville School District’s Washington Junior High, Bright Field Middle, Mary Mae Jones Elementary, Central Park at Morning Star, Lincoln Junior High, Cooper Elementary, R.E. Baker Elementary, Ardis Ann Middle, J. William Fulbright Junior High, and Thomas Jefferson Elementary
  • Fayetteville School District’s Asbell Elementary and Happy Hollow Elementary
  • Rogers School District’s Eastside Elementary, Westside Elementary, Garfield Elementary, Tillery Elementary, Tucker Elementary, and Grimes Elementary
  • Springdale School District’s Hunt Elementary, John Tyson Elementary, Bayyari Elementary, George Elementary, Hellstern Middle, Turnbow Elementary, Walker Elementary, Linda Childers Knapp Elementary, Helen Tyson Middle, and Harp Elementary
  • Decatur High School
  • Elkins Middle School
  • Gravette Middle
  • Pea Ridge Middle
 
In general NWA has many high-quality schools, and there are some systems that are generating greater learning growth among students than others. Here at OEP we want all students to experience high levels of learning growth. In the case of schools where students are less likely to be experiencing growth, the school community should work together to identify the root cause and work to make adjustments that will benefit students. OEP will be happy to help!
 
It is important to note that the achievement and growth scores only represent the performance of students in grades 3-10 on state assessments in English Language Arts and mathematics. We know that teachers and student do LOTS of important things in school that aren’t measured by this report, but NWA schools can move towards greater levels of academic growth and proficiency in reading and math.

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