story by Kim Souza
ksouza@thecitywire.com
Good schools are crucial to a region’s economic growth because employers rely on strong school performance as one of the selling points for recruiting top talent to the region, according to Mike Malone, CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Again this year, the NWA Council in conjunction with the University of Arkansas Office of Education Policy, released its 2014 Northwest School Report Card. The 32-page report indicates local schools from the big 5 districts down to the smallest of charter schools are outperforming their peers across the state. (Link here for a PDF of the report.)
“When we look at all the data, we see that Arkansas, and especially Northwest Arkansas, is providing good schools. Arkansas’ high school graduation rate is above the national average, and our students score above the national average on reading, language and math,” said Gary Ritter, faculty director for the UA Office for Education Policy.
Northwest Arkansas’ public school enrollment has increased 29% in the past decade, and local schools have increased their ethnic diversity. The growth in schools is a function of population growth attracted to region because of its low unemployment levels, job opportunities and quality of life amenities, city officials agree.
The report looked at 15 districts and 3 charter schools in Northwest Arkansas. The five largest districts, 10 smaller schools and three charters make up the report findings.
Between 2013 and 2014 students in the third through eighth grade in Northwest Arkansas tested at an 80% proficiency in math, compared to 72% across the state. Literacy levels among third to eighth graders were 83% in Northwest Arkansas versus 78% statewide.
Algebra and Geometry proficiencies were 83% and 84% among local schools, compared to 75% and 74% respectively, across the state. High School literacy levels were 81% locally, a full 9% higher than the 72% reported for the state as a whole. Biology proficiency stood at 59% locally, compared to 47% statewide.
When comparing local performance against broader standards, Northwest Arkansas students between the first and ninth grades fared better than the nation’s average 50th percentile, with room for improvement on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
SPRINGDALE CHALLENGES
The largest district in the Northwest Arkansas is Springdale growing 46% over the past decade to an enrollment of 21,120 last year. The school district also has the largest population of limited English speaking students (45%) with the most racially mixed student population. The student mix at Springdale is Hispanic, 45%; white, 38%; other (Marshallese), 13%; black, 2%, and Asian, 2%.
Springdale’s report card indicates 74% of its students third through eight grade are at risk categorized as those who participate in free/reduced lunch programs, are identified as Special Education or are identified limited English proficient. Specifically, the student population has 68% on free or reduced lunches compared to 52% across the peer group average.
Students in Springdale schools slightly underperformed the students in other big 5 peer group average across all grade levels and subjects tested. That said, the district has 10% of gifted and talent students compared to 8% among the peer group.
The district spends $9,289 per student compared to $9,208 for the big five districts average and reports a graduation rate of 78%, compared to 85% among its peer district average.
The report found that Springdale improved its proficiency averages by 28% over the past decade in elementary math, with literacy proficiency rising 22% for this group. High School proficiency scores improved 17% in Algebra and 12% in Geometry over the same period.
HAAS HALL SHINES
Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, the smallest school in the group, reports an enrollment of 320 students in 2014. While the school is small in size, it’s big on results.
Haas Hall reported a 98% proficiency in math among third to eighth graders, 18% higher than the region has a whole. In the other areas Haas Hall also reported the highest proficiency rating possible at 100% in Literacy for elementary and high schoolers, Algebra and Geometry. Biology proficiency was 97%, against the region’s 59%.
The charter school had no students identified “at risk” and the school maintained a student teacher ration of 17 to 1, the highest in the region. The charter school focuses on college preparatory learning and boasts 100% gradation rate spending just $6,767 per student, $2,289 less the regional average.
Against the national testing averages Haas Hall ranked in the 91st percentile in math, 93rd percentile in reading and the 85th percentile in language. This compared to the respective percentiles across the region, 62. 57, 57.
BENTONVILLE STANDARD
In many ways Bentonville education is deemed a standard to emulate across the state, from its sports programs to its top performing public school status ranking No. 1 among the other big schools in the state. Bentonville also fared better than comparable demographic cites across the country such as Kansas City, Austin, Oklahoma City and Lexington, Ky.
Bentonville’s student enrollment has grown 68% from 2004 to 15,497 students while the district maintained a teacher/student ratio of 13:1, one of the lowest in the region. The district’s ethnic makeup consists of the following: White 75%; Hispanic 11%; Asian 6%; Other (mostly Indian) 5%; and Black 3%.
The school district reports about half the amount of students needing free/ reduced lunches (26%) compared to 52% for among its peer district average. Also at risk in the district is the 6% of students with limited English proficiency, this compared to 26% at the peer school averages of Fayetteville, Springdale. Siloam Springs and Rogers.
Bentonville students in grades three through eight had an 86% proficiency in math, 88% proficiency in literacy against peer averages of 81% and 84%, respectively. Bentonville High School students also outperformed their peers 88% to 84% in Algebra, 90% to 85% in Geometry, 92% to 82% in literacy and 76% to 60% in Biology.
Bentonville ranks well against other schools across the country in all testing areas. In math Bentonville’s 91st percentile was higher than the 64% recorded in Oklahoma City or the 89% in Lexington, Ky. It was lower than the 92% percentile in Raleigh Durham or 99% in Madison, Wisc.
ROGERS PROGRESSING
There were 15,027 students in the Rogers School District last year, growing 17% over the past decade with diverse student background as follows: White 49%; Hispanic 44%; Other 3%; Asian 2%; and Black 2%.
Like Springdale, this large district has a large percentage of “at-risk” students with 62% getting free/reduced lunch and 33% with limited English proficiency. Despite those challenges students in Rogers schools held their own against other districts in the region. Third through eighth graders were 81% proficient in math, 88% proficient in literacy, compared to 81% and 84% among their peer district averages on state tests.
In Algebra, the proficiency was 84%, dead even with the peers, while Geometry, Biology and eleventh grade literacy lagging the peer averages. In national testing Rogers’ students lagged the peers as well 62% to 65% in math, 56% to 62% in reading and 58% to 61% in language.
The district spends an average of $8.437 per pupil, some $861 less than the peer average. The graduation rate in Rogers is 88%, compared to 85% among the peer average.
FAYETTEVILLE PERFORMS WELL
Among the large districts Fayetteville boasts the second highest scores in the region. Like Bentonville, the district is largely comprised of white students at 69%, with Hispanics at 12%, Blacks at 10%, Asians at 4% with other ethnicities of 6%.
The student population of 9,503 is up 16% since 2004. The district is the smallest of the four major cities in the region, with Siloam Springs being the only smaller school in the big 5 cohort of this report. Fayetteville has a 13 to 1 teacher ratio, one of the smallest in the regions and it spends and average of $10,487 per pupil the most of any other district in the report.
Fayetteville has a 40% student base on free or reduced lunches and just 9% who are have limited English proficiency. The district did report a 12% Special Education population, higher than the 10% among its peer average.
Students between third and eighth grades outperformed the peer averages in math and literacy at 82% to 81%, and 85% to 84%, respectively. At the high school level Fayetteville students also fared better than their peer averages:
• Algebra: 86% to 84%
• Geometry: 90% to 85%
• Literacy: 82% equal to 82%
• Biology: 73% to 60%
On national tests Fayetteville’s 83rd percentile in math was better than the 64% in Oklahoma City, but behind the 88% in Plano, Texas. In literacy, Fayetteville’s 80th percentile fared better than Oklahoma City’s 62%, but behind Lexington, Ky., at 94%
SMALL SCHOOL WINNERS
Among the 10 small schools in this report there were several that consistently outperformed their peer group average. Farmington did better in elementary math and literacy at 85% and 84% proficiency levels, respectively. Pea Ridge also fared well at 84% in math and 81% in literacy, both better than the peer averages of 77% and 79%, respectively.
At the high school level, Prairie Grove took the top spot for Algebra with an 88% proficiency which tied Bentonville and was second only to Haas Hall and NWA Classical Academy’s 100% rating.
In Geometry it was Gravette’s 88% proficiency that ranked it top among the small schools, excluding charter Haas Hall’s 100%. Gravette’s proficiency rating was better than Rogers and Springdale.
SMALL SCHOOL LAGGERS
While the majority of small schools in this report fared well, there were some laggards in the group. Elkins, Greenland, Decatur, Lincoln and West Fork each ranked below the average in more than one category. The small school average scores in this group were: elementary math, 77%; elementary literacy, 79%; algebra, 76%; and geometry, 77%.
Elkins at 74% was below peer averages in elementary math and above the average with an 80% in literacy. At the high school level Elkins had 58% proficiency in Algebra, the lowest in the region. Decatur, Greenland and Lincoln were below the peer averages in Geometry posting the lowest proficiencies at 54%, 65% and 67%, respectively.