Facts Must Illuminate, Not Obfuscate

It was first reported on this blog that the Little Rock School District was one of twelve districts/charters in Arkansas improving on the ACT Aspire in every grade.

That is still true.

Unfortunately, like the old game of telephone, it is now been repeated to the point that it sometimes morphs into “The Little Rock School District is one of only twelve districts in the state improving on the ACT Aspire.”

That is not true.

In fact, 206 of the 258 districts and charters in Arkansas cumulatively improved on the ACT Aspire. Among those, LRSD ranked 109th in overall improvement.

Also, at a recent LRSD event, it was shared that the district had the highest ACT scores of any district in Pulaski County.

In regard to eleventh graders’ summative exam, that is not true.

District Reading English Math Science 
 Jacksonville/North Pulaski 17.0 16.6 17.0 17.2
 Little Rock 17.9 17.4 17.8 17.9
 North Little Rock 17.3 16.4 17.3 17.4
 Pulaski County 18.8 18.0 17.9 18.4
 Arkansas Average18.8 18.3 18.4 18.9

Actually, four of the LRSD’s five high schools declined in readiness on all four subjects of the ACT.

Schools Reading English Math Science 2015-16
Ready All 4 Subjects 
2016-17
Ready All 4 Subjects 
Growth/
Decline
 
 Central 20.6 20.4 19.9 20.1 22.3% 26.8% +4.5
 Fair 15.3 13.9 15.9 15.1 1.7% .7% -1
 Hall 14.1 13.3 15.2 14.2 1.5% 0% -1.5
 McClellan 14.2 13.7 15.6 15.8 .7% .7% 0
 Parkview 19.0 18.6 18.0 18.8 15.5% 9.2% -6.3
 Arkansas Average 18.8 18.3 18.4 18.9 12.7% 13.6% +.9

Clearly, the district’s highest performing students have been Balkanized into Central and to a lesser extent at Parkview, which dropped 6.3 points in 2016-17, the greatest decline in the county. The percentage of students meeting readiness benchmarks in all four subjects declined in three of five LRSD high schools, while McClellan’s .7% remained the same.

Most egregiously, Hall High School had zero students meeting the readiness benchmark in all four subjects. That only occurred in 19 of Arkansas’s 291 high schools.

Here’s how the rest of the public high schools performed in Pulaski County.

Reading English Math Science 2015-16
Ready All 4 Subjects
2016-17
Ready All 4 Subjects
Growth/
Decline
Jacksonville 17.0 16.6 17.0 17.2 3.1% 6% +2.9
Maumelle 19.7 19.0 18.4 19.0 14.4% 16% +1.6
Mills 17.3 16.5 17.1 17.0 8.3% 10.3% +2
North Little Rock 17.3 16.4 17.3 17.4 8.9% 9.1% +.2
Robinson 18.6 17.1 17.2 18.3 3.2% 8.5% +5.3
Sylvan Hills 18.8 18.2 18.2 18.7 5.9% 11.9% +6
eStem Charter 20.0 19.9 19.2 20.1 13.8% 22.5% +8.7%
Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter 18.5 17.1 17.1 17.9 NA 9.1% NA
LISA Charter 18.7 17.8 18.8 18.1 16.4% 22.9% +6.5
LISA North Charter 21.2 22.1 19.8 19.2 22.7% 21.7% -1
Maumelle Charter 19.9 20.3 18.8 20.0 6.9% 12.8% +5.9
Premier Charter 13.8 13.2 15.5 14.8 0% 3.6% -3.6
SIA Tech Charter N<10 N<10 N<10 N<10 <10 NA 0% NA
Arkansas Average 18.8 18.3 18.4 18.9 12.7% 13.6% +.9

Every public high school in Pulaski County – traditional and charter – outperformed three of five LRSD high schools. And seven of twelve outperformed four of five LRSD high schools.

Facts must illuminate, not obfuscate.

Previous Post
Progress Yes, But What About Urgency of Bale, Hall, Fair, McClellan?
Next Post
Learn to Read, Read to Learn
Menu