State releases school grades, A through F

By STEVE BRAWNER

The Arkansas Department of Education released its school letter grades for the 2024-25 school year last week. Now school leaders must decide what it means for their districts, and how they can improve their scores.

According to a department press release, 12% of the state’s schools, or 122 of them, scored an A, while 291 schools, or 28%, made a B. Another 34%, or 352, received a C. 

Of the rest, 137, or 13%, received a D, while 130, or 13%, received an F. One hundred fifty-six of the grades were being appealed.

The rankings were the first official ones the department released after switching to its new Arkansas Teaching, Learning & Assessment System. Developed with educators’ input, ATLAS is meant to more closely match what Arkansas students are expected to learn than the previous, off-the-shelf ACT Aspire exam.

It was actually the second year students took the ATLAS exam. The Department of Education did not give official grades for the previous year in order to give schools time to acclimate to the new test. 

The grades for schools serving students in grades K-8 are based on the following factors: percentage of students testing proficient in English language arts, math and science; growth of all students in those subjects; and growth among the lowest performing quarter of students. 

“Proficient” describes students scoring at Levels 3 and 4 on the ATLAS exam. Students scoring at Levels 1 or 2 have not sufficiently learned the material.

Scores for high schools are based on test scores and two other factors: the percentage of students graduating in four years, and the percentage of students graduating with merit or distinction. That means they have completed a “success-ready pathway” preparing them to enroll in further education, be employed out of high school, or enlist in the military.

The Department of Education said student performance improved over last year. Higher percentages scored proficient in English language arts in all grades except grade nine. Students improved in math in all grades except grade five. Science scores improved in all grades except grade eight. 

Still, the state has far to go. The percentage of fourth-graders scoring at Level 3 or 4 in English language arts improved from 36.1% to 39.2%. That’s better, but it still means more than six in 10 students are not learning what they should. The percentage of fourth-graders scoring proficient increased from 37.8% to 43.1% in math, and from 35.9% to 43% in science. In high school math, the percentage of students scoring at Level 3 or 4 increased from 26.9% to 30.8% in Algebra I and from 18% to 21.5% in geometry.

Did those gains reflect that schools were doing a better job, or might they reflect the fact that schools and students had another year of experience with ATLAS? We’ll have to see if scores continue to improve. 

Twenty of Bentonville’s 24 schools scored an A – about one-sixth of the state’s total. Another five came from Haas Hall Academy, a charter school with five locations in northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith. 

On the other end of the achievement spectrum, four of the Blytheville School District’s five schools received an F, while Blytheville Middle School received a D. The school district had already been taken over by the state for poor performance and is being managed by a private company. 

It should be noted that a large part of any school’s performance depends on socioeconomic factors it can’t control. Richer kids in richer communities tend to score higher than poorer kids in poorer communities. At the same time, educators and policymakers cannot accept that a student’s circumstances will determine his or her destiny. 

The state’s school accountability system exists so school districts can know where they stand and where they should target their not-unlimited resources. For example, the Benton School District impressively had five schools with an A along with one with a B and one with a C. The district may want to give extra attention to its C school, Ringgold Elementary. 

Furthermore, the new accountability system will tell local school leaders how their schools are performing in individual subjects, or if their high schools’ success-ready pathways need better connections.

Knowing that information can help them plan how to get more A’s – among the students, most importantly, and, in the process, the schools.

Want to see your local school’s grades? Go to https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/public-school-accountability/school-performance/school-letter-grade, and click on the “School Letter Grade” tab.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 21 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.