By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Pupils at Magness Creek and Stagecoach in Cabot and Arnold Drive elementary schools at the air base are among the top in the state based on recently released benchmark scores.
Almost all Magness Creek third-graders scored proficient or advanced in math on the annual assessment. Because percentages are rounded, the school did have a few students, less than six, score basic and none scored below basic.
If a student scores advanced, it means he is more than ready to move up to the next grade, proficient implies the student is also ready to move up, but may need a little help here and there, a basic student needs a lot of help to complete work at his grade level and will have difficulty at the next grade level, and a below basic student doesn’t have all the skills to move up to the next grade.
Among the top scores in the region were third-graders at Stagecoach Elementary, with 95 percent of them scoring proficient or advanced and 92 percent of the fourth- graders scoring proficient or better. Also, 90 percent of Southside Elementary third and fourth-graders made the grade.
At Arnold Drive Elementary in Jacksonville, 97 percent of the third graders, 94 percent of the fourth-graders scored proficient or better in math and 91 percent of the fifth-graders scored well in math.
These same third and fourth-graders scored 91 and 97 percent, respectively, in literacy. Also, 93 percent of Oakbrooke Elementary third-graders in Sherwood made the cut in literacy.
Ninety-five percent of Sidney Deener Elementary School third-graders in Searcy scored proficient or better in math, and 93 percent of the third-graders at Searcy’s Westside Elementary did the same, while the fourth-graders had a 92 percent pass rate. The sixth-graders at Searcy’s Southwest Middle School had a 90 percent pass rate in math, while among Ahlf Junior High eighth-graders, 91 percent scored well in literacy.
State Education Department figures show, for the first time, more than 60 percent of students at each grade level scored proficient or advanced on both mathematics and literacy on the Arkansas Augmented Benchmark Exams.
Generally, students did better in math than in literacy. the younger students did better than the older students.
The exams, given in April to 209,000 third through eighth grade students, are recognized as some of the most rigorous in the country, according to Julie Thompson, spokesman for the Education Department.
Diana Julian, interim commissioner for the Arkansas Department of Education, said, “It’s a great day when a state can report that more than two-thirds of its students are achieving proficiency, especially when those results reflect continued academic growth at each grade level.”
The No Child Left Behind Act requires all students be proficient or advanced at their grade level by the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
The state considers an annual school increase of about seven percentage points as making adequate progress toward that goal. This means any school that has less than 70 percent of its students proficient or advanced is in jeopardy of reaching that 100 percent goal in time.
BEEBE
At Beebe Intermediate, 87 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or advanced in math and 73 percent did as well in literacy. Among the fourth-graders, 85 percent were proficient or better in math and 84 percent made the cut in literacy.
At Beebe Middle School, 71 percent of the fifth-graders were either proficient or advanced and 75 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. Among the sixth-graders, 86 percent were proficient or better in math and 74 percent did equally well in literacy.
At Beebe Junior High, 71 percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better and 68 percent did the same in literacy.
Among eighth-graders, 67 percent were proficient or advanced in math and 81 percent in literacy did the same.
CABOT
At Westside Elementary, 79 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math and 77 percent did the same in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 77 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and literacy.
Central Elementary had 83 percent of its third-graders score proficient or advanced in math and 73 percent did the same in literacy. Among fourth-graders, 87 percent scored well in math and 81 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At Magness Creek, 100 percent of its third-graders scored proficient or advanced in math and 86 percent did equally well in literacy. The school’s fourth-graders had an 88 percent pass rate in math and an 89 percent proficient or better rate in literacy.
At Stagecoach, 95 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math and 88 percent did the same in literacy.
Among the fourth-graders, 92 percent made the cut in math and 83 percent scored proficient or advanced in literacy.
Among Northside third-graders, 86 percent scored proficient or better in math and 76 percent did the same in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 85 percent scored well in math and 83 percent scored proficient or advanced in literacy.
At Eastside Elementary, 86 percent of third-graders were proficient or advanced in math and 73 percent did equally well in literacy. Eighty-six percent of the fourth-graders also scored proficient or advanced in math, while 81 percent did the same in literacy.
At Ward Central, 78 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or advanced in math, but only 63 percent did so in literacy.
At the fourth-grade level, 80 percent made the cut in math and 78 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At Southside Elementary, 90 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math and 80 percent did so in literacy.
Among the fourth-graders, 90 percent made the grade in math and 84 percent were proficient or better in literacy.
For fifth-graders at Cabot Middle School North, 82 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and 81 did the same in literacy. At the sixth-grade level, 88 percent made the cut in math and 83 percent did so in literacy.
At Cabot Middle School South, 83 percent of the fifth-graders scored proficient or better in math and 81 percent were proficient or advanced in literacy. Among sixth-graders, 88 percent were proficient or better in math and 84 percent did the same in literacy.
At Cabot Junior High North, 72 percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better in math, but that fell to 65 percent in literacy. At the eighth-grade level, 71 were proficient or better in math and 77 percent did the same in literacy.
Among the seventh-graders at Cabot Junior High South, 78 percent scored proficient or better in math and 76 percent scored equally well in literacy. At the eighth-grade level, 71 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and that jumped to 79 percent in literacy.
LONOKE
At the third-grade level, 75 percent of the students were proficient or advanced in math and 64 percent did equally well in literacy. Among fourth-graders, 81 percent were proficient or better in math and 73 percent were proficient or better in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, 76 percent of the students were proficient or better in math and 72 percent made the cut in literacy.
At Lonoke Middle School, 83 percent of the sixth-graders scored proficient or advanced in math and 72 percent were proficient or better in literacy. Among seventh-graders, 75 percent were proficient or better in math, but that dropped to 58 percent in literacy. At the eighth-grade level, 70 percent were proficient or advanced in math and 75 percent made the cut in literacy.
PULASKI COUNTY
At Oakbrooke Elementary in Sherwood, 76 percent of the third-graders were proficient or advanced in math, but that fell to 61 percent in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 78 percent scored well in math, but that jumped up to 93 percent proficient or better in literacy. Among fifth-graders, 63 percent scored proficient or better in math and 67 percent did as well in literacy.
At Sherwood Elementary, 70 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math and 66 percent did equally well in literacy. Among fourth-graders, 73 percent made the cut in math and 68 percent scored proficient or advanced in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, 72 percent scored proficient or better in math and 62 percent did the same in literacy.
At Sylvan Hills Elementary in Sherwood, 76 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math, but that slipped to 62 percent in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 73 percent scored proficient or better in math and 69 percent did the same in literacy. Among fifth-graders, just 42 percent are proficient or advanced in math and 51 percent are in literacy.
Sherwood’s Clinton Elementary had 65 percent of its third-graders score proficient or advanced in math and 63 percent did the same in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 73 percent made the cut in math and 71 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. Among the fifth-graders, 62 percent scored proficient or better in math and 58 percent did the same in literacy.
Pinewood Elementary in Jacksonville had 76 percent of its third-graders score proficient or better in math, but that fell to 47 percent making the cut in literacy. Among the fourth-graders, 76 percent made the grade in math and 69 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, 68 percent scored proficient or better in math and 61 did the same in literacy.
At Bayou Meto Elementary, 85 percent of third-graders made the grade in math, but that fell to 65 percent in literacy. Among the fourth-graders, 89 percent achieved proficiency or better in math and 80 percent did equally well in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, 79 percent scored proficient or better in math and 75 percent did the same in literacy.
At Tolleson Elementary, 81 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math, but that fell to 67 percent of students for literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 80 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and 76 percent did the same in literacy. Among the fifth-graders, 60 percent scored well in math and 66 percent did the same in literacy.
Cato Elementary had 85 of its third-graders score proficient or advanced in math and that fell to 59 percent in literacy. Among fourth-graders, 79 percent scored well in math and 77 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, 59 percent of the students scored well in math and 60 percent in literacy.
At Murrell Taylor Elementary, 69 percent of the third-graders made the cut in math and 60 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, just 40 percent of the students were proficient or better in math, but that jumped to 76 percent in literacy. Among the fifth-graders, 50 percent made the cut in math and 44 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At Jacksonville Elementary, 59 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math and 40 percent did the same in literacy. Among fourth-graders, 53 percent made the cut in math and 45 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, just 31 percent made the required grade in math and 48 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
Arnold Drive Elementary had some of the better scores in the county district. Among its third-graders, 97 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and 91 percent did the same in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 94 percent made the cut in math and 97 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. Among fifth-graders, 91 percent scored well in math and 86 percent did equally well in literacy.
At Warren Dupree Elementary, 60 percent of its third-graders made the cut in math and 40 percent scored proficient or better in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 81 percent scored well in math and 69 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
Among fifth-graders, 65 percent scored well in math and 79 percent made the cut in literacy.
At Harris Elementary, 53 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better in math and 42 percent did equally well in literacy. Among fourth-graders, 48 percent scored well in math and 42 percent made the cut in literacy. At the fifth-grade level, it was 42 percent making the cut in math and 48 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At Jacksonville Middle School Girls’ campus, 55 percent of the sixth-graders scored proficient or better in math and 56 percent did the same in literacy. At the seventh-grade level, 41 percent scored proficient or better in math and that jumped to 59 percent in literacy. Among the eighth-graders, 35 percent scored proficient or better in math and 65 percent made the cut in literacy.
At the boys’ campus, 68 percent of sixth-graders scored well in math, while 43 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At the seventh-grade level, the numbers fell to 43 percent proficient or better in math and down to 23 percent making the cut in literacy. In eighth grade, 52 percent of the students scored well in math and 56 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
Among Sylvan Hills Middle School sixth-graders, 69 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and 54 percent made the cut in literacy. Forty-eight percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better in math and that edged up to 56 percent making the grade in literacy. At the eighth-grade level, 38 percent scored well in math and 59 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At Northwood Middle School, 77 percent of sixth-graders scored proficient or better in math and 55 percent scored well in literacy. At the seventh-grade level, 59 percent scored well in math and 72 percent were proficient or better in literacy. Among eighth-graders, 63 percent scored proficient or better in math and 74 percent did well in literacy.
SEARCY
At Sidney Deener Elementary, 95 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or advanced in math and 87 percent did the same in literacy. At the fourth-grade level, 87 percent scored proficient or better in math and 76 percent did equally well in literacy.
At Westside Elementary, 93 percent of the third-graders scored proficient or better and 89 percent made the cut in literacy.
Among the fourth-graders, 92 percent scored proficient or advanced in math and 85 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
At McRae Elementary, 83 percent of the third-graders were proficient or better in math and 75 percent did the same in literacy. Among the fourth-graders, 83 percent made the cut in math and 76 percent made the grade in literacy.
At Southwest Middle School, 81 percent of the fifth-graders scored proficient or better in math and 87 percent did the same in literacy. At the sixth-grade level, 90 percent of the students scored proficient or advanced in math and 88 percent made the cut in literacy.
For seventh-graders at Ahlf Junior High, 78 percent scored well in math and 80 percent were proficient or advanced in literacy. Among the eighth-graders, 79 percent made the cut in math and 91 percent scored proficient or advanced in literacy.