Last week First Class Communication gave a shout out to Arkansas students and educators for the gains made on this year's state Benchmark Exam scores. But when we we later went to look for those scores, we had a heck of a time finding them.
Historically, they've been housed on the Arkansas Department of Education website. When we couldn't find them there, we called ADE's Communications Office and were told the scores had a new virtual home.
Now you can find them at the Arkansas Research Center's Quick Look's page.
The presentation is visually attractive, and offers a lot of added context to the scores.
You'll have to look through charts one grade a time by school or district. Or you can use the nifty option that let's you compare two districts or schools at a time. You can also follow the progress of a cohort of students as they move up the grades over time.
The site is definitely worth visiting, especially for parents or others interested in looking at student performance in schools where their children attend, or may attend in the future.
The Arkansas Research Center was established in 2008 by an Institute for Education Statistics grant. It serves as collaborative effort for several Arkansas state agencies.
Psstt...One thing I still haven't found is a chart showing the aggregate statewide scores, though it may be there somewhere. If it is, someone please let me know where.
If not, that'd be a nice addition to a great site.
Welcome to Our Message ... chockfull of news, tips and fun things to know.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Great addition made to State Board of Education
Governor Beebe announced today that he has appointed Dr. Jay Barth as the newest member of the Arkansas State Board of Education.
Jay is a well-known political science professor at Hendrix College who has a great grasp of education policy issues. He's also performed significant research regarding challenges and solutions for Arkansas public schools, and he has a sincere concern for our state and our students.
No question ... he will be a wonderful addition to the State Board!
Jay is a well-known political science professor at Hendrix College who has a great grasp of education policy issues. He's also performed significant research regarding challenges and solutions for Arkansas public schools, and he has a sincere concern for our state and our students.
No question ... he will be a wonderful addition to the State Board!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Create a Website that works and wows
You know that your school district website has a big load to carry.
But if you do your website right, you can inform, involve and invigorate your students, parents and community members to levels not reached before.
A website that works keeps your patrons informed about the important news, events, policies and regulations that impact your everyday workings.
A website that wows creates a sense of pride in your schools. What’s more, it provides venues for patrons to be a part of the school community.
First Class Communication knows how to design, write for and organize a school district web site that will make it a regular go-to site for all of your patrons.
When First Class Communication designs or re-designs website, we first work with you to pinpoint your communication and interaction needs.
Once we’ve determined how best to meet those needs, we meticulously map out your website, taking into account such critical elements as intuitive navigation, writing style, page content, design consistency and cohesiveness, and frequency of updates.
First Class Communication will guide you through the important planning phase and then provide Web design, content and template services. We also provide content management, on a regular or temporary basis.
Contact us at (501) 626-6960 or at info@firstclasscommunication.com. We'd love to put the WOW factor in your website.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Aspiring Athletes and ACTs
Yesterday I accompanied my son, a high school baseball player (second base and shortstop) to a showcase event put on by the American Legion and the Baseball Factory. The goal was to help promising Arkansas high school players make the move to the next baseball level. For most, that would be college ball.
As I expected, the Baseball Factory guys put a lot of emphasis on developing baseball skills -- hitting, pitching, running, fielding and so forth. What I didn't expect, though, was the sharp focus on academics.
The first thing a college scout will ask about a player they're interested in is his academic performance, according to these in-the-know guys at the Baseball Factory. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, good grades indicate that a player works hard for success in the classroom, and that's something that will carry over to the baseball diamond. Another is that, because baseball has a limited number of scholarships to entice players, college coaches know that if they can piece together a combination of academic and athletic scholarships, they will be better able to attract (and financially help) that player.
So they encouraged the 75 or so baseball players attending yesterday's event from high schools all across Arkansas to work hard in the classroom, convince teachers that each subject is their favorite and to prepare well and give the ACT and/or SAT their best shot.
Doing those things, they said, will greatly improve a player's chances for a college to woo him to their baseball program.
That's great advice, I think, and not just for high school baseball players.
As I expected, the Baseball Factory guys put a lot of emphasis on developing baseball skills -- hitting, pitching, running, fielding and so forth. What I didn't expect, though, was the sharp focus on academics.
The first thing a college scout will ask about a player they're interested in is his academic performance, according to these in-the-know guys at the Baseball Factory. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, good grades indicate that a player works hard for success in the classroom, and that's something that will carry over to the baseball diamond. Another is that, because baseball has a limited number of scholarships to entice players, college coaches know that if they can piece together a combination of academic and athletic scholarships, they will be better able to attract (and financially help) that player.
So they encouraged the 75 or so baseball players attending yesterday's event from high schools all across Arkansas to work hard in the classroom, convince teachers that each subject is their favorite and to prepare well and give the ACT and/or SAT their best shot.
Doing those things, they said, will greatly improve a player's chances for a college to woo him to their baseball program.
That's great advice, I think, and not just for high school baseball players.
Monday, June 25, 2012
5 Reasons Arkansas's Educational Reforms Shouldn't Be Messed With
The worst thing that could happen in 2013 is for the Arkansas General Assembly to reverse any of the remarkable strides that have been made for public education in our state over the last decade.
What with all the new state legislators who will take their places at the Capitol in 2013, many fear they'll start tinkering with the progressive, systemic education policies so many have worked tirelessly to develop, pass and implement. Those concerns were discussed in a recent Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article, and First Class Communication has to say, count us in as two more who share those fears.
Having been a close observer of the Education Committees at the State Capitol for a good many of those reform-rich years, we saw how hard fought the bi-partison battle was, and, once it was won, how quickly legislators begin to try to chip away at individual reforms. Sometimes a legislator wanted to dismantle what had been done, but, more often than not, they were truly unaware of the systemic policy effort that was made and of the great difference it made for students. The latter will pose the biggest threat in 2013.
There are so many improvements that resulted from the reforms effort, instigated, of course, by the Arkansas Supreme Court's Lake View ruling that found Arkansas students were in schools across the state without adequate funding and of wildly disparate quality. We can easily tic off five improvements we don't think the state education system can do without:
1. Accountability to ensure schools educate every child. Modeled largely after the major tenets of No Child Left Behind, Arkansas's Act 35 demanded that schools teach to rigorous learning standards, test how well students learned that rigourous material and report results for the entire student body as well as for major subgroups of students. No longer could a school hide behind the performance of its top students as others languished between the cracks.
2. Better pay for teachers. A decent mininum salary for teachers must now be paid in every district across the state. This hasn't solved the disparity-in-pay problem, because richer districts can still pay more, but at least there's a minimum. Why is this important? Putting excellent teachers in the classroom is the most important thing a school district can do for it's students, and excellence in teaching isn't free or even cheap (funny how this fact still surprises so many folks!)
3. Adequate funding for schools. Not only is this a plus for schools because it provides each district the money it needs to teach its kids, but having to go through the adequacy study every two years forces legislators to really pay attention to what's happening in school buildings from Alma to Arkansas City.
4. Better school buildings. Arkansas was truly progressive with its state partnership for funding and maintaining school buildings, and what a difference this has made! Starting with the goal of simply ensuring that every child attend a school that is safe, warm and dry (that was NOT the case before this legislation) we've now moved on to putting more and more of our students in buildings equipped for an actual 21st-century education.
5. A more rigorous curriculum. There was a time that graduation requirements varied from district to district, but now Arkansas has a common -- and rigorous -- set of minimum requirements for all students. Thank goodness some districts go above those, requiring two years of a foreign language. In addition, all Arkansas high schools must offer an Advanced Placement class in each of the four main subjects -- math, English, science and social studies. And now, Arkansas, along with many other states, is in the process of incorporating the Common Core of learning standards, which will increase the rigor as well as the depth of learning for our students.
So those are our five. Do you have something to add to the list? We'd love to hear from you.
What with all the new state legislators who will take their places at the Capitol in 2013, many fear they'll start tinkering with the progressive, systemic education policies so many have worked tirelessly to develop, pass and implement. Those concerns were discussed in a recent Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article, and First Class Communication has to say, count us in as two more who share those fears.
Having been a close observer of the Education Committees at the State Capitol for a good many of those reform-rich years, we saw how hard fought the bi-partison battle was, and, once it was won, how quickly legislators begin to try to chip away at individual reforms. Sometimes a legislator wanted to dismantle what had been done, but, more often than not, they were truly unaware of the systemic policy effort that was made and of the great difference it made for students. The latter will pose the biggest threat in 2013.
There are so many improvements that resulted from the reforms effort, instigated, of course, by the Arkansas Supreme Court's Lake View ruling that found Arkansas students were in schools across the state without adequate funding and of wildly disparate quality. We can easily tic off five improvements we don't think the state education system can do without:
1. Accountability to ensure schools educate every child. Modeled largely after the major tenets of No Child Left Behind, Arkansas's Act 35 demanded that schools teach to rigorous learning standards, test how well students learned that rigourous material and report results for the entire student body as well as for major subgroups of students. No longer could a school hide behind the performance of its top students as others languished between the cracks.
2. Better pay for teachers. A decent mininum salary for teachers must now be paid in every district across the state. This hasn't solved the disparity-in-pay problem, because richer districts can still pay more, but at least there's a minimum. Why is this important? Putting excellent teachers in the classroom is the most important thing a school district can do for it's students, and excellence in teaching isn't free or even cheap (funny how this fact still surprises so many folks!)
3. Adequate funding for schools. Not only is this a plus for schools because it provides each district the money it needs to teach its kids, but having to go through the adequacy study every two years forces legislators to really pay attention to what's happening in school buildings from Alma to Arkansas City.
4. Better school buildings. Arkansas was truly progressive with its state partnership for funding and maintaining school buildings, and what a difference this has made! Starting with the goal of simply ensuring that every child attend a school that is safe, warm and dry (that was NOT the case before this legislation) we've now moved on to putting more and more of our students in buildings equipped for an actual 21st-century education.
5. A more rigorous curriculum. There was a time that graduation requirements varied from district to district, but now Arkansas has a common -- and rigorous -- set of minimum requirements for all students. Thank goodness some districts go above those, requiring two years of a foreign language. In addition, all Arkansas high schools must offer an Advanced Placement class in each of the four main subjects -- math, English, science and social studies. And now, Arkansas, along with many other states, is in the process of incorporating the Common Core of learning standards, which will increase the rigor as well as the depth of learning for our students.
So those are our five. Do you have something to add to the list? We'd love to hear from you.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
6 Crucial Components for Successful Parent Engagement Efforts
No mystery here -- parent engagement with schools and the learning process plays a huge role in student achievement. But knowing how to create a sustainable, systemic and comprehensive parent engagement program proves elusive for many school leaders.
One reason for that, say Harvard's Karen Mapp and Johns Hopkins' Steven Sheldon, is that school leaders too seldom view parental involvement as part of the solution to academic problems. Instead, actively engaged parents are often perceived as a bother or, worse, as a hindrance to what principals and teachers are trying to accomplish.
The scholars, leading an Education Week webinar, suggested that schools create "partnership teams" to work in tandem with school leadership teams on specific goals such as improved math or reading scores, behavior or attendance.
Why enlist a team and not a single but capable and already active parent? Teams ensure a diversity of input as well as a better chance of a sustainable effort. How many times have you had a dynamic program end when a parent reached the burning-out point or followed her (sometimes his) child to another school?
The responsibility for parental involvement shouldn't stop at the school building, either. District leadership has a vital role in creating strong parent and community engagement that is equally vibrant in all of the district's schools.
Mapp and Sheldon list these six components as necessary for a comprehensive, ongoing and successful parent engagement program:
1. Creating awareness of the need for engagement (don't forget to get buy-in from staff, too)
2. Aligning programs and policies to support and encourage parental engagement
3. Develop (with parent input) guidelines for engagement programs
4. Share knowledge and training
5. Celebrate milestones and successes
6. Document progress and evaluate outcomes to plan program improvements
One reason for that, say Harvard's Karen Mapp and Johns Hopkins' Steven Sheldon, is that school leaders too seldom view parental involvement as part of the solution to academic problems. Instead, actively engaged parents are often perceived as a bother or, worse, as a hindrance to what principals and teachers are trying to accomplish.
The scholars, leading an Education Week webinar, suggested that schools create "partnership teams" to work in tandem with school leadership teams on specific goals such as improved math or reading scores, behavior or attendance.
Why enlist a team and not a single but capable and already active parent? Teams ensure a diversity of input as well as a better chance of a sustainable effort. How many times have you had a dynamic program end when a parent reached the burning-out point or followed her (sometimes his) child to another school?
The responsibility for parental involvement shouldn't stop at the school building, either. District leadership has a vital role in creating strong parent and community engagement that is equally vibrant in all of the district's schools.
Mapp and Sheldon list these six components as necessary for a comprehensive, ongoing and successful parent engagement program:
1. Creating awareness of the need for engagement (don't forget to get buy-in from staff, too)
2. Aligning programs and policies to support and encourage parental engagement
3. Develop (with parent input) guidelines for engagement programs
4. Share knowledge and training
5. Celebrate milestones and successes
6. Document progress and evaluate outcomes to plan program improvements
Monday, June 18, 2012
What's your plan for successful social media?
How many hours are you spending on social media for your organization?
If it's only two or three per week, you might consider outsourcing. It'll be more efficient and, likely, much more effective.
And if your social media effort is implemented willy-nilly (read not according to a strategy) you really might consider outsourcing.
The owner of and head copy writer for social media firm Six Degrees Content recently blogged that "although you know your business best, there are many challenges that can keep in-house staff from getting social media writing just right." Business owners need to focus on their businesses, and others in the organization may not have the time or skills to plan and produce quality social media writing on a daily basis.
No doubt, social media is becoming more and more important to all kinds of organizations, including education-related one. Delivering news to constituents, reinforcing reputation and branding, providing insight into who you are -- the right execution of a good social media strategy will hasten success in all of these goals.
If it's only two or three per week, you might consider outsourcing. It'll be more efficient and, likely, much more effective.
And if your social media effort is implemented willy-nilly (read not according to a strategy) you really might consider outsourcing.
The owner of and head copy writer for social media firm Six Degrees Content recently blogged that "although you know your business best, there are many challenges that can keep in-house staff from getting social media writing just right." Business owners need to focus on their businesses, and others in the organization may not have the time or skills to plan and produce quality social media writing on a daily basis.
No doubt, social media is becoming more and more important to all kinds of organizations, including education-related one. Delivering news to constituents, reinforcing reputation and branding, providing insight into who you are -- the right execution of a good social media strategy will hasten success in all of these goals.
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