By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles examining the state-issued report cards on area schools.
The state issued report cards recently, grading all public and charter schools from A to F.
Seven schools in the area received A’s: Cabot’s Eastside, Southside, Stagecoach and Mountain Springs elementary schools, Jacksonville Lighthouse Upper Academy and its Lighthouse Flightline Academy and Lisa Academy North High School.
Flightline Academy on Little Rock Air Force Base, with 194 students and an average class size of 20 students, received an A from the state with a score of 281. It was also listed as an achieving school, the second highest ranking in that category and one of just 67 schools statewide to be so honored. Exemplary is the best, and only one school in Arkansas last year reached that title.
In Lonoke, the grades given by the state were three D’s and a B.
Lonoke School Superintendent Suzanne Bailey immediately fired off a letter to district parents telling them that their schools were better than the state.
“This has come as a shock to schools and districts across Arkansas due to the perception that it has cast on many districts. Many schools that were noted as high achieving schools and even received thousands of dollars in reward money for these same scores now find themselves as an average or below average school,” she said.
“This point system is not truly reflecting the learning and achievement that is taking place for our students,” Bailey said.
She added that, “We are more than a test. We know that one test cannot assess everything we are doing for our students. Our teachers are working hard to implement Common Core, and hold students to a higher level of understanding, as we continue to raise expectations for our students.”
Even though Bailey, along with Cabot’s school chief, Tony Thurman, and Beebe’s leader, Belinda Shook, feel the grades are misleading, the 16- to 21-page report card on each school does provide a mountain of valuable information about the districts and the schools.
Taking an in-depth look at the state-issued report cards on Lonoke and its schools, the data shows that the district spends about $1,000 less to educate a student than the state average. Lonoke spends $8,301 per student and the state average is $9,457.
Teacher salaries are about $3,000 below the state average: $45,300 compared to $48,060.
The total budget for the school district in the 2013-14 school year was $20.4 million, according to the state reports. That broke down to $8.87 million for instructional expenses, $1.15 million for administrative costs, $2.16 million on extracurricular activities, $2.78 million for capital expenditures and debt service of $1.81 million.
The report also shows that 65.6 percent of Lonoke students are eligible for free or reduced meals, about five percentage points above the state average.
LONOKE PRIMARY
According to the state report card, the primary school received an overall grade of D and is listed as a needs improvement school.
The school earned 203 points out of a possible 300 on the state’s scoring criteria, just seven points away from a C.
“Our primary school does not give any of the graded assessments, but is a feeder school for the elementary school. Because the primary school is a feeder school to the elementary school, it was given the same grade as the elementary school,” Bailey said.
According to the report, the school’s first graders were below the state average in reading comprehension and math problems. Second graders were also under in reading comprehension, but above in math problems.
The school, last year, had 390 students, a class size of 19 students, and teachers had an average of 10 years experience. The student population was 65.4 percent white, 24.4 percent black and 8.2 percent Hispanic. According to the report card, 66 percent of the students were classified as low income, 7 percent had limited English proficiency and 9 percent were eligible to receive special education.
Lonoke Primary’s accreditation status was at the highest level. The report said that 97.3 percent of the teachers were completely certified (better than the state average) and that 44 percent had master’s degrees, three percentage points above the state.
The student attendance rate was at 96.8 percent, more than two percentage points better than the state.
The report said that, in 2013-14, the school had one expulsion, one weapons incident, one assault on a staff member and five student assaults.
Also, three first graders were retained and one second grader was held back. Both are below the state average.
LONOKE ELEMENTARY
The elementary school also received a D from the state, scoring 203 out of 300 points, seven short of a C. It was also listed as a needs improvement school.
“Based on the state’s system, the amount of growth was not sufficient enough to earn the amount of points to be ranked a higher grade,” the superintendent explained.
The school, with 391 students, an average class size of 17 students and teachers with an average of 12 years experience was 69.6 percent white, 22 percent black and 6.9 percent Hispanic during the 2013-14 school year.
The report card shows that 76.9 percent of the school’s third graders were proficient or advanced on the state literacy exams, but the state had set a goal of 80.6 percent. In math, the state goal was 87.9 percent and the third graders only hit 72.6 percent.
Each grade was supposed to hit those targets of 80.6 percent proficient or better in literacy and 87.9 percent in math. Fourth graders were at 69.6 percent proficient or better in math, down about 10 points from the previous year and 11 points shy of the state goal. In math, fourth graders dropped to 57.4 percent proficient or advanced from the previous year at 73.7 percent. The state goal was 87.9 percent proficient or better.
The fifth graders beat the state goal in literacy of 80.6 percent proficient or better as 83.1 percent made the grade. But the fifth graders were 26 points below the math goal with a proficiency rate of 57.6 percent.
The report said just 35.9 percent of the students met the required growth in math, while 74.6 met growth requirements in literacy. Hispanics were best in math at 40 percent, while Caucasians were tops in literacy at 78.8 percent.
The school, based on the report card, was properly accredited, and 100 percent of the teachers were completely certified, better than the state average, and 53 percent of the teachers had master’s degrees, 12 percentage points better than the state.
It had a 96.6 percent attendance record for the students, above the state average, and no students were retained. The school listed one weapons incident and 17 student assaults for the 2013-14 school year.
LONOKE MIDDLE
The middle school also received a D from the state with a score of 198. The cut-off for a C was 201 and for an F it was 180.
The school, in 2013-14, had 406 students, a class size average of 16 students and teachers had an average of 11 years of experience. The student population was 67.7 percent white, 21.7 percent black and 7.1 percent Hispanic.
The state set goals of 84.9 percent of the students proficient or better in literacy and 85.4 percent proficient or advanced in math. Neither the sixth nor seventh graders met the goals.
In literacy, sixth graders were 67.2 percent proficient or better, a 10-point drop from the previous year and 17 points shy of the state goal. In literacy, sixth graders also fell from 83.8 percent proficient in 2012-13 to 70.2 percent making the grade in 2013-14, a full 15 points below the state goal.
Seventh graders were 78.4 percent proficient or better in literacy, but needed to hit 84.9 percent. In math, seventh graders at 67.2 percent proficient or better were two points below the previous year and 18 points below the required goal.
Overall, 63.4 percent of students met their growth goals in math and 72.5 percent did likewise in literacy.
The school, according to the report card, was properly accredited and 97.7 percent of the teachers were completely certified, two points better than the state average. The number of teachers with master’s degrees was below the state average: 32 percent for the school and 41 percent for the state.
The student attendance rate was 97.2 percent, almost three points better than the state average, and the school reported one weapons incident in 2013-14.
LONOKE HIGH
The high school was the bright spot for the district, earning 254 points and a B grade, but was still listed as a needs improvement school.
According to the state report card, the school had 608 students in the 2013-14 school year with an average class size of 16 students, and the teachers had an average of 10 years experience. The student population was 69.4 percent white, 21.2 percent black and 5.4 percent Hispanic.
Students beat the state-required goals for the 11th grade literacy exam and end-of-course algebra exam, but finished short of the goals for the end-of-course geometry exam.
On the literacy exam, 81.4 percent were proficient or better, one point better than the state requirement.
In algebra, 92.5 percent of the students were proficient or advanced, 17 points above the state requirement. In geometry, 73.1 percent made the cut, but the state required 75.4 percent to be proficient or better.
Students are also required to take an end-of-course biology exam, but the state placed no required goals on the test. About 43 percent of Lonoke high school students scored proficient or better on the test.
The school was very close to the state on the ACT scores. Lonoke students averaged 22.41 on the ACT reading and the state was at 22.46.
On the ACT English exam, Lonoke students were at 21.39 and the state was at 21.38. In math, Lonoke students scored 21.16 to the state’s 21.02. In science, Lonoke was at 21.53 and the state average was 21.9.
On the overall composite ACT score, Lonoke averaged 20.91 and the state was at 21.24.
For the second year in a row, the school was cited for accreditation issues. Based on the report card, 94.3 percent of its teachers were completely certified, 3.8 percent had emergency or provisional credentials and 57 percent had master’s degrees, well above the state average of 41 percent.
The student attendance rate was the lowest in the district at 94.8 percent but still ahead of the state average of 94.4 percent. The dropout rate was 3.8 percent compared to the state rate of 2.1 percent.
Lonoke’s graduation rate was 90.3 percent, more than three points better than the state average. The score also had a grade inflation rate of 2.9 percent and a college remediation rate of 43 percent, both better than the state averages.
The school reported four weapons incidents.
“We will continue to roll up our sleeves and work hard to move students forward academically to make Lonoke an achieving district,” Bailey said.
