By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Editor’s note: This is the third and final part of a series highlighting recently released test scores. The first focused on Cabot, the second on the Pulaski County Special School District and this one covers all other schools in the area.
Back in April, students in third through 10th grades took the annual state assessment measuring their skills in English, math, science, reading and writing.
Beebe, Lonoke and the other schools followed the same pattern as Cabot and PCSSD, which showed students stronger in English than math and generally weakest in writing.
The state expects all students to score in the top two of the four scoring categories: Meeting expectations or exceeding expectations, meaning students are working at grade level or above.
About 65 percent of students across the state made the cut in English, but it dropped to about 40 percent in math and 30 percent in writing.
“Looking at our scores, we definitely can see room for improvement,” said Dr. Belinda Shook, superintendent of Beebe schools. “However, one thing we do in our analysis is to compare our scores to the state scores. In many, but not all, we are above the state average.”
It was the first year for the state to give the computerized ACT Aspire assessment to students. It was the PRACC online test the previous year and then the pencil-and-paper benchmark exams before that.
“Anytime a new test is given it’s a learning experience,” Shook said.
She added, “We look at our results and ask questions such as how closely are we aligned to the standards, and are we teaching the standards to the level, with the rigor, they need to be taught? The test is a measurement of those two questions.”
Shook went on, “Since this was a brand-new test, I believe the writing scores, as well as the rest of the tested areas, were affected by the technology students were required to use. Young students who were not taught, or who did not practice writing with word processing, would not be able to do as well. I imagine some of the students were spending more effort figuring out how to take the test, than figuring out correct answers. As we progress, the students will become more familiar with the format and the scores will improve.”
Lonoke Superintendent Suzanne Bailey said, “The Lonoke School District has and is still reviewing all ACT Aspire data with our own administrative teams and will be continuing this process with building level professional learning community teams that consist of teachers, support staff, and principals. This will be occurring throughout the entire school year.”
“Upon our initial review,” Bailey said, “We have recognized that our student performance reflects improvement in literacy from the PARCC assessment, but our writing scores from the ACT Aspire do not reflect the scores that we are satisfied with currently and thus, we will continue to have discussions and implement teaching and learning strategies across the district to provide support in the area of writing.”
The superintendent added, “Working with our students to help them become more familiar with computerized testing should also assist in improving our student performance overall.”
Here are area schools and districts and the percentage of students who did well in the five areas tested:
BEEBE
At the third-grade level, 70.6 percent of the students met or exceeded expectations, 53.9 percent in math, 34.9 percent in science, 28.6 percent in reading and 32.1 percent made the cut in writing.
Among fourth graders, 64.6 percent did well in English, 52 percent in math, 35.4 percent in science, 37.6 percent in reading and 18.5 made the cut in writing.
Beebe’s fifth grade had 75.7 percent of its student body meet or exceed expectations in English, 47.5 percent in math, 41.3 percent in science, 28.2 percent in reading and 17.2 percent in writing.
At the sixth-grade level, 67.8 percent made the cut in English, 49.6 percent in math, 47 percent in math, 38.3 percent in reading and 36.4 percent did well in writing.
For seventh grade, 74.9 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 57.4 percent in math, 39.9 percent in science, 36.5 percent in reading and 26.2 percent in writing.
Eighth grade had 73 percent of its students make the cut in English, 51.2 percent in math, 39.5 percent in science, 52.6 percent in reading and 16.7 percent did well in writing.
At the freshman level, 57.8 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 32.4 percent in math, 31.3 percent in science, 32.5 percent in reading and 49.1 percent in writing.
Sophomores had 62.7 of its class make the cut in English, 22.1 percent in math, 28 percent in science, 32.7 percent in reading and 60 percent did well in writing.
LISA ACADEMY
At the third-grade level, 76.9 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 67.7 percent in math, 40 percent in science, 43.1 percent in reading and 14.3 percent in writing.
Among fourth graders, 79.5 made the cut in English, 67.1 percent in math, 45.2 percent in science, 49.3 percent in reading and just 13.9 percent in writing.
For fifth grade, 72.4 percent did well in English, 46.1 percent in math, 32.9 percent in science, 40.8 in reading and only 13.3 percent in writing.
At the sixth-grade level, 79.5 percent made the cut in English, 64.2 percent in math, 61.3 percent in science, 55.8 percent in reading and 47.9 percent in writing.
LIGHTHOUSE CHARTER SCHOOLS
Among third graders, 61.1 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 44.4 percent in math, 25.9 percent in science, 27.8 in reading and just 7.5 percent did well in writing.
At the fourth-grade level, 53.7 percent made the cut in English, 38.9 percent in math, 22.2 percent in science, 27.8 percent in reading and 14.8 percent in writing.
For fifth grade, 72.5 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 34.3 percent in math, 28.4 percent in science, 29.4 percent in reading and 17.6 percent did well in writing.
At the sixth-grade level, 63.2 percent made the cut in English, 41.9 percent in math, 41.5 percent in science, 34 percent in reading and 33.3 percent in writing.
LONOKE
Third grade had 57.2 percent of its students meet or exceed expectations in English, 37.9 percent in math, 25.5 percent in science, 22.1 percent in reading and just 6.6 percent did well in writing.
At the fourth-grade level, 70.9 percent made the cut in English, 44.9 percent in math, 36.2 percent in science, 37 percent in reading and only 10.6 percent did well in writing.
Lonoke had 65.6 percent of its fifth graders meet or exceed expectations in English, 37.5 percent in math, 30.5 percent in science, 23.4 percent in reading and just 3.1 percent made the cut in writing.
Among sixth graders, 70.3 percent scored well in English, 49.2 percent in math, 53.1 percent in science, 45.3 percent in reading and 30.4 percent in writing.
At the seventh-grade level, 78.6 made the cut in English, followed by 30.5 percent in math, 32.5 percent in science, 36.4 percent in reading and 19.5 percent met or exceeded expectations in writing.
Among eighth graders, 64.6 did well in English, 29.1 percent in math, 229.9 percent in science, 45.7 percent made the cut in reading and only 6.3 percent did the same in writing.
For freshmen, 52.9 percent met or exceeded expectation in English, 23 percent in math, 25.9 percent in science, 36.3 percent in reading and 40.7 percent made the cut in writing.
Among Lonoke sophomores, 56.7 did well in English, 16.8 percent in math, 32.8 percent in science, 37.8 percent in reading and 51.2 percent made the cut in writing.
CARLISLE
The district had 60.5 percent of its third graders meet or exceed expectations in English, 44.2 percent in math, 34.9 percent in science, 27.9 percent in reading and just 4.7 percent in writing.
Among fourth graders, 61.1 percent made the cut in English, 44.4 percent in math, 27.8 percent in science, 27.8 percent in reading and only 3.8 percent did well in writing.
At the fifth grade level, 69.2 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 38.5 percent in math, 30.8 percent in science, 30.8 percent in reading and 34.6 percent in writing.
For sixth grade, 76.1 percent made the cut in English, 67.4 percent in math, 54.3 percent in science, 50 percent in reading and 41.3 percent did well in writing.
Among seventh graders 78.8 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 51.9 percent in math, 36.5 percent in science, 44.2 percent in reading and 34.6 percent in writing.
At the eighth-grade level, 60.8 percent did well in English, 33.3 percent in math, 33.3 percent in science, 37.3 percent in reading and only 10 percent made the cut in writing.
For freshmen, 34.5 percent did well in English, 12.7 percent in math, just 9.1 percent in science, 40 percent in reading and 23.6 percent in writing.
Among sophomores, 60.4 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, 16.7 percent in math, 29.2 percent in science, 35.4 percent in reading and 57.4 percent did well in writing.
