By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles examining the state-issued report cards on area schools.
Three years ago, all six Searcy schools were deemed “schools of excellence” by the state, but, on this year’s report card for the Arkansas Department of Education, five of the schools need improvement, one was graded a “C” and another a “D.”
All state schools this year, for the first time, were given letter grades (A-F) by the state and many superintendents, including Searcy’s superintendent, Diane Barrett, felt the report cards didn’t paint a complete picture.
“The report card grade is one snapshot in a whole collage of information,” she said. “Basing a judgment of a school’s quality on just the assigned report grade may be misleading.”
Her district received one “A,” three “B’s,” a “C” and a “D.”
The “A” school, Westside Elementary, was three points shy of a perfect 300 score, yet the state placed the school in its “achieving” category, not “exemplary.”
McRae Elementary missed an “A” by just one point, but is considered a needs improvement school, just like Sidney Deener Elementary, which received a “D.”
“A school may be performing well overall but receive a lower grade if the school has not met performance goals, which vary from school to school and district to district,” said Barrett in an effort to explain why the letter grades vary so much.
Regardless of any poor grades from the state, Barrett pointed out that “within the last three years, all six of our schools have received recognition from outside agencies for their academic programs, in some cases even receiving recognition in the form of monetary awards for their performance.”
The state report cards on schools are part of a 2013 law requiring an easy-to-comprehend system that parents and others can understand.
What the state produced was report cards for each school averaging 18 pages each full of information, often conflicting, and no clear summary or explanation of the grade, which is not featured on the front page of the report cards, but instead in the middle of the report as a line item.
Taking an in-depth look at the state-issued report cards on Searcy and its schools, the data shows that the district spends about $1,400 less to educate a student than the state average. Searcy spends $8,086 per student, and the state average is $9,457.
Teacher salaries are about $5,000 above the state average: $53,489 compared to $48,060.
The total budget for the school district in the 2013-14 school year was $38.47 million, according to the state reports. That broke down to $19.2 million for instruction expenses, $2.7 million for administrative costs, $1.8 million for extracurricular activities, $3.2 million for capital expenditures and debt service of $1.8 million.
McRAE ELEMENTARY
According to the state report card, the school received 269 points and an overall grade of “B,” one point shy of an “A,” and is listed as a needs improvement school. Three years ago, using a different rating system, the state said McRae Elementary was a “school of excellence.”
The school, last year, had 484 students, an average class size of 16 students, and teachers had an average of 16 years of experience. The student population was 77 percent white, 11 percent black and 7 percent Hispanic.
McRae Elementary’s accreditation status was at the highest level. The report said that 100 percent of the teachers were completely certified (better than the state average) and that 53 percent had master’s degrees, which also beat the state average.
In 2013-14, the school retained 11 students.
On the literacy portion of the annual Benchmark, the school’s third graders were 75.4 percent proficient or better, a 13-point drop from the previous year and 9 points shy of the state-mandated goal of 84.49 percent.
In math, third graders did much better at 88.2 percent proficient or better, a two-point increase from the previous year that beat the state requirement of 87.03 proficient or better.
First, second and third graders beat the state average on the norm-referenced test used to compare students nationally.
SIDNEY DENNER
This elementary school, with 438 students, average class sizes of 16 students and teachers averaging 12 years of experience, garnered 204 points from the state for a “D” grade, six points short of a “C.” It was listed as a needs improvement facility even though, three years ago, it was, according to the state, a “school of excellence.”
The student population was 63 percent white, 16 percent black, 14 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Asian and 1 percent Native American.
The school’s accreditation status was at the highest level, but only 95.7 percent of the teachers were completely certified, and 41 percent had master’s degrees.
In 2013-14, the school retained four students.
On the literacy portion of the annual Benchmark, the school’s third graders were 64.4 percent proficient or better, close to an 11-point drop from the previous year and 23 points shy of the state-mandated goal of 88.68 percent.
In math, third graders fared even worse as 67.1 percent were proficient or better, a 10-point drop and 27 points below the state requirement of 94.81 proficient or better.
WESTSIDE
This elementary school, with 507 students, average class size of 17 and teachers with an average of 16 years of experience, garnered 297 out of 300 points for an “A,” and the state listed it as achieving, the second highest category possible. Only one school across the state made it to the highest category of exemplary.
Three years ago, like all Searcy schools, the state called Westside a “school of excellence.”
The student population is 85 percent white, 5 percent Hispanic, 4 percent black and 1 percent Asian.
The school was fully accredited with 100 percent of its teachers fully licensed and 43 percent having master’s degrees. The school retained eight students during the 2013-14 school year.
On the literacy portion of the state Benchmark, the third graders were 86.5 percent proficient or better, a nine-point drop from the previous year and about five points below the state-required goal of 91.27 percent.
In math, the students also dropped in proficiency and missed the state goals. Students were 88.3 percent proficient or advanced , nine points under the previous year and about five points short of the mandated 92.89 percent.
The school’s second and third graders beat the state average in literacy and math on the norm-referenced test, which is used to compare students nationally.
SOUTHWEST
This middle school was listed by the state three years ago as a “school of excellence” but, on the recent report card, received 227 points for a solid “C” -— 13 points away from a “B” and 17 points above a “D.” It was also listed as a needs improvement school.
The school has 941 students, an average class size of 20 and teachers have an average of 11 years of experience.
The student population is 74 percent white, 11 percent black, 9 percent Hispanic, and 1 percent Asian.
The school reported one weapons incident in 2013-14.
The school was cited for accreditation issues and 97.6 percent of its teachers were completely certified. Almost half the teachers had master’s degrees.
Neither the fourth, fifth or sixth graders reached state- mandated goals on the annual Benchmark exam.
On the literacy portion of the test, fourth graders were 84.4 percent proficient or better, down four points from the previous year and missing the state mark of 92.64 percent by eight points. In math, 74.5 percent of the fourth graders made the cut, down 13 points from the previous year and 14 points below the state mark of 88.79 percent proficient or better.
The school’s fifth graders were 88.9 percent proficient or better in literacy, down four points from the previous year and four points shy of the state mandate of 92.64 percent.
In math, the students were 76.5 percent proficient or advanced, down three points from the previous year, and 13 points under the state bar of 88.79 percent.
Sixth graders were 79.5 percent proficient or better on the literacy exam, down three points from the previous year and about 13 points shy of the 92.64 percent required by the state.
In math, the sixth graders were 83.8 percent proficient or better, up two points from the previous year, but still and under the state requirement by five points.
AHLF JUNIOR HIGH
The district’s junior high went from a “school of excellence” three years ago to a needs improvement school.
The school, with 672 students, an average class size of 20 and teachers averaging 10 years of experience, garnered 244 points for a “B,” just five points above a “C,” on the state’s report card.
The school has a student population of 77 percent white, 12 percent black, 6 percent Hispanic and 1 percent Asian.
In 2013-14, the school retained eight students and reported two expulsions, five weapons incidents and one staff assault.
The school was properly accredited, but only 96.8 percent of its teachers were completely certified.
About 40 percent the school’s teachers have master’s degrees.
Neither the seventh nor the eighth graders beat the state averages in literacy or math.
In seventh grade, 85.5 percent scoring proficient or advanced, down about six points from the previous year and falling six points short of the state bar of 91.13 percent proficient or better.
In math, 79.9 percent of the students made the grade, down nine points from the previous year and short of the 89.97 percent proficient or better required by the state.
In eighth grade, students were 86.3 percent proficient or better in literacy, down six points from the previous year, but only five points short of the state goal.
In math, the eighth graders were 76.6 percent proficient or advanced, a drop of nine points from the previous year and about 13 points under the state mandate of 89.97 percent.
SEARCY HIGH
The high school, with 1,171 students, average classes of 16 students and teachers with an average of 14 years of experience, garnered 257 points from the state for a “B” and was listed as a needs improvement school.
Three years ago, the state categorized the high school as a “school exceeding standards.”
The school’s population is 82 percent white, 10 percent black and 5 percent black.
It is fully accredited with 98.1 percent of the teachers completely certified, 1.9 percent holding emergency or provisional licenses and 44 percent of the school’s teachers having master’s degrees.
During the 2013-14 school year, two students were expelled, and there were 11 weapons incidents.
The school had a graduation rate of 85.8 percent, down slightly from the state average; a grade inflation rate of 3.9 percent, about half of the state average; a college- going rate of 52.4 percent, one point better than the state average; and a college remediation rate of 28.9 percent, 16 points better than the state.
Beebe High School students outperformed the state average on all portions of the ACT, but were below state averages on the SAT.
Of those students taking the algebra I end-of-course exam, 82.5 percent scored proficient or better, down about five points from the previous year and 11 points shy of the state mark of 93.06 percent proficient or advanced.
In geometry, 94 percent of the students made the grade on the end-of-course exam, up about two points from the previous year and besting the state requirement by about a point.
Students also take an end-of-course test in biology, but the state doesn’t use it to calculate a school’s ranking or overall performance.
In Searcy, 68.1 percent of the students were proficient or advanced in biology, about two points more than the previous year.
On the grade 11 literacy exam, which measures whether a student can read and write on grade level, 86 percent were proficient or better, up nine points from the previous year, but not up to the state-required 97.96 percent proficient or advanced.
