During Monday night’s Blytheville School Board meeting, director of curriculum Sally Cooke and instructional advisor Casey Deford spoke about the preliminary test scores.
“Across the board, it’s not what we were hoping for,” Cooke said. “It’s not what we were looking for; it’s not what we were expecting.”
Deford noted they have to compare 10th graders, for example, to how they did in 9th grade the previous year to determine growth in the area.
She said in grades 4-6 and 8, there was more than two percent growth in reading, while scores in that area decreased in 7th, 9th and 10th grades.
Deford said school leadership teams will look deeply why that is happening.
Other than grades 6-7, Blytheville students’ scores dropped in English.
“Our main area of concern is mathematics where in grades 4-10 there was not growth or there was stagnation, meaning they remained the same,” Deford said.
She added schools will address their individual needs.
“When the results are published, you will just see that year’s proficiency, which is not a good indicator of did students grow,” Deford said. “To see student growth you need to see where they were as ninth graders and where they are as 10th graders…If we are not seeing at least two percent growth each year in that, students are actually decreasing in what they’ve learned and that’s a problem.”
Cooke said schools want to do a deeper dive before they give the official results, which are released in the fall.
Board member Desmond Hammett asked if the test scores will play a part in the state charter hearing in December and Cooke said they would.
“At the high school level, they don’t look that great right now,” Cooke said.
Deford said they set year-end goals of growth for students, ranging from 2-3 percent based on subject area, and “we did not meet those goals from the preliminary results.”
Also, Cooke noted the district has cut staff, hiring 23 compared to losing 45 employees who resigned or retired.
Carrington asked how many teachers the district is employing this school year compared last, and Cooke said she would look up the information.
Carrington also asked about the student to teacher ratio.
“It’s under the number that the state requires,” Cooke responded. “But I don’t know by how much. I do know we are under.”
In other news, the board heard an update from Baldwin and Shell job site superintendent Raymond Johnson who said the gym is on pace to be ready by December or early January.
Carrington asked if the gym was on budget, and Ashley responded that “it doesn’t look like we’re going to run out of money.”
The board was also given contract disclosure forms to fill out.
Board members approved the transfer of a student, and the purchase of 25 computers for the Blytheville High School computer lab at a cost of $24,251. Of that, $13,000 is coming from a state computer science grant, while federal funds cover the remainder.
The board approved a strategic action plan as well.