By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series examining recently released state test scores.
According to the latest round of annual state testing, about two-thirds of the ninth and 10th graders across Arkansas are not ready to move up in math, science or reading.
About half don’t write well enough to be considered meeting or exceeding grade-level requirements and only 40 percent make the cut in English.
In other words, more students are doing poorly on the test than those doing well.
At Jacksonville High School, the scores were about half or worse than the state averages, especially in math, where only 9 percent of freshmen met or exceeded grade-level goals. That’s twice as many as the previous year. Just 7 percent of the 10th graders did well enough to be in the Ready or Exceeding categories.
This is the second year the state has given the ACT Aspire test in English, math, science, reading and writing to students in the third grade, up through 10th grade. The test is given over a period of days in April.
“Thankfully, we have the opportunity to stay with the ACT Aspire for an extended time. Over the three-year period from 2014-16, we administered three totally different assessments – Benchmark, PARCC, then Aspire. Familiarity with the assessment system is a benefit to students,” said Dr. Tony Thurman, superintendent of Cabot schools.
Dr. Belinda Shook, head of the Beebe School District, echoed those thoughts, “The testing process as a whole went much smoother this year. We had very few glitches with technology, and since this was the second year for ACT Aspire, we knew more of what to expect with the online testing.”
Based on scores, students fall into one of four categories: Exceeding, Ready, Close or In Need of Support. One could look at the categories as A, B, C and D.
Math and science seems to be an overall weakness across the state.
Lisa Academy North charter in Sherwood had the highest test scores in the area across the board, yet still half the ninth and tenth graders didn’t do well on the math exam.
Cabot’s Freshman Academy students and the sophomores at the high school were second in almost every category.
“Both Cabot Freshman Academy (grade 9) and Cabot High School (grade 10) saw improved scores in the number of students scoring at the College and Career Ready level in all five testing areas (English, Reading, Writing, Science and Math). The greatest increases for the freshmen were in Science (+10) and Math (+14). While the greatest increases for sophomores were in Reading (+13) and Math (+14),” Thurman said.
Beebe also hit high on the test list for area schools.
“We want our scores to be high and we want our students to do well, but we also understand the key to doing so is meeting the needs of each individual student,” Shook explained. “We want all students to celebrate how they are growing and improving instead of just focusing on the proficiency level of the whole group of students.”
She added, “The tenth-grade scores were all above the state average and we showed improvement in each area. The ninth grade decreased about two points in English, but overall, English tends to be a high area for Beebe, as well as the state. Writing is an area that needs strengthening, but in 9th and 10th grades, our students scored very well, in comparison to the state. I believe there are alignment issues with the standards and testing that will be worked out the longer we use the same standards and take the same assessments.”
Here is a list of schools by subject and in order from top school to lowest school.
ENGLISH
Across the state, 62 percent of sophomores did well and so did 61 percent of ninth-graders.
Nearly 85 percent of Lisa Academy’s sophomores hit or surpass the state standards.
Beebe had 71 percent of its tenth graders make the grade. Cabot Freshman Academy had 71 percent of its freshmen meet or exceed goals.
Cabot High School tenth graders came in at 69 percent.
Lisa Academy had 64 percent of its ninth-graders meet or exceed goals. Sophomores at Sylvan Hills met or exceeded goals at a 59 percent pace. Lonoke sophomores had 57 percent meet or exceed goals.
Of Beebe’s ninth-graders, 57 percent met or exceeded goals. Lonoke ninth-graders were at 53 percent. Of Carlisle’s freshmen 52 percent met or exceeded goals.
Sylvan Hills had 48 percent of its ninth-graders hit the mark. England had 46 percent of its sophomores and 41 percent of its freshmen score well. Only 40 percent of Carlisle sophomores made the cut. Jacksonville had 37 percent of its ninth graders and sophomores meet or exceed goals.
MATH
No school in the area scored better than 50 percent on the math portion of the ACT Aspire. The state average was 30 percent for ninth graders and 25 percent for sophomores.
Freshmen at Lisa Academy North did hit the 50 percent mark of meeting or exceeding expectations. The tenth graders were at 46 percent. Cabot freshmen were just one point behind with 45 percent making the cut.
Among sophomores at Cabot High, 38 percent did well. At Beebe High School 34 percent of sophomores either met or exceeded goals, while 33 percent of the ninth graders did the same. Cabot’s Academic Center for Excellence had 31 percent of its freshmen hit the mark. Lonoke had 30 percent of its ninth graders do well on the test.
Carlisle had 23 percent of its ninth graders meet or exceed goals. At Jacksonville’s Lighthouse College Prep Academy, only 22 percent of its freshmen made the cut. Among the ninth graders at England High School, 21 percent made the grade. Sylvan Hills had 19 percent of its sophomores and 18 percent of its ninth graders make the grade. At the tenth-grade level, 17 percent met or exceeded goals. It was the same for Lonoke sophomores with just 17 percent hitting the mark.
Just 13 percent of Carlisle sophomores scored well. Among sophomores at Cabot’s ACE only 9 percent met or exceeded goals. It was also just 9 percent for Jacksonville’s ninth graders. Only 8 percent of sophomores at the Lighthouse school met or exceeded goals.
The tenth-grade class at Jacksonville High School had the worst score in the area with 7 percent of the students tested scoring at or above grade level.
SCIENCE
Like math, science was a weak spot for the state, with just a third of tenth- and ninth-graders making the cut.
Both Lisa Academy North’s ninth and tenth grade had 57 percent of its students meet or exceed goals.
Cabot High School had 46 percent of its sophomores meet or exceed goals, while 45 percent of the ninth graders did the same. Beebe had 40 percent of its sophomores do well.
Among Cabot’s Academic Center for Excellence ninth graders, 37 percent did well.
Sylvan Hills had 29 percent of its sophomores do well. In Lonoke and Beebe, 28 percent of freshmen met or exceeded goals, while 26 percent of the Lonoke sophomores did the same. Among Lighthouse charter freshmen, 23 percent made the grade. In England, 22 percent of the sophomores met or exceeded expectations. Twenty percent of the Jacksonville ninth-graders did well on the test.
At Sylvan Hills, just 19 percent of ninth graders made the cut. In Carlisle, it was 19 percent for both the freshmen and sophomores. Only 14 percent of the Cabot ACE sophomores met or exceed goals. England also had only 14 percent of its freshmen do well. Just 13 percent of Jacksonville’s sophomores hit the mark. Lighthouse freshmen did the same with just 13 percent doing well.
READING
State average for ninth grade was 39 percent making the cut and 36 percent of the sophomores doing the same.
At Lisa Academy, both freshmen and sophomores had 57 percent meet or exceed goals. Freshmen at Cabot’s Freshman Academy were close behind with 54 percent making the cut. Sophomores at the high school had 57 percent meet or exceed goals. At Cabot’s ACE, 44 percent of its freshmen did well. Beebe hit the mark with 43 percent of its sophomores.
At Beebe, 38 percent of its ninth graders met or exceeded goals. Lonoke had 35 percent of its freshmen meet or exceed goals. In England, 33 percent of its sophomores made the cut. Sylvan Hills had 32 percent of its tenth graders and 31 percent of its freshmen make the cut. Among ninth graders at Lighthouse, 31 percent did well.
Only 28 percent of Lonoke sophomores made the grade. Tenth grade at the Lighthouse had 27 percent meet or exceed the mark. Carlisle had 26 percent of its tenth graders hit the mark. Among ninth graders in Carlisle, 24 percent did well. Just 23 percent of Carlisle ninth graders met or exceeded goals. Jacksonville had 22 percent of its ninth graders make the grade.
Jacksonville tenth graders tied with the tenth graders from Cabot’s ACE with just 14 percent meeting or exceeding goals.
WRITING
More than half the state’s students met or exceeded goals in writing — 57 percent for tenth grade and 51 percnet for ninth grade.
Lisa Academy had 73 percent of its sophomores meet or exceed goals. Beebe’s tenth graders were right up there at 72 percent doing well. It was 69 percent of Lisa Academy’s ninth graders hitting the mark. Cabot High School had 68 percent of its tenth graders meet or exceed goals and 65 percent of its Freshman Academy students made the grade. Among ninth graders at Beebe, 60 percent did well.
Sylvan Hills had 56 percent of its tenth graders do well. Lonoke had 54 percent of its sophomores meet or exceed goals. At Lighthouse, 51 percent of the sophomores did well as did 49 percent of the ninth-graders.
England had 44 percent of sophomores meet or exceed goals. At Cabot’s ACE, 41 percent of the ninth graders made the cut.
Sylvan Hills had 38 percent of its ninth graders make the cut. For Carlisle, 38 percent of its sophomores were doing well and 37 percent of its freshmen hitting the mark. England’s freshmen had a 36 percent success rate. Jacksonville’s sophomores had 34 percent do well. Cabot’s ACE had 33 percent of its sophomores meet or exceed goals. At the tenth-grade level in Jacksonville, 30 percent made the cut. Among Lonoke ninth graders, 29 percent did well.