Magnet Cove, Bismarck score high marks on Aspire test

ACT Aspire scores earned by students at Magnet Cove and Bismarck high schools earned them recognition Wednesday among the state’s high-achieving schools. Lakeside High School was recognized in regional rankings for math.

The schools were acknowledged by the University of Arkansas Office for Education Policy’s latest report from the Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High-Achieving Arkansas Schools. The report recognized high-achieving high schools in the state based on performance on the ACT Aspire examinations.

Magnet Cove High School ranked No. 17 in Arkansas based on overall ACT Aspire achievement, which includes scores from the math, English language arts and science portions. The high school saw 51 percent of its test-takers meet or exceed their readiness benchmarks.

Bismarck High School ranked No. 18 in the state with 50 percent of its students meeting or exceeding benchmarks.

Grade-point averages are assigned to schools based on the specific performance levels indicated from the Aspire reports. Scores are calculated similar to the GPA standard in schools for grades A-D. Four points were allocated for every student to score “exceeded expectations,” three for “ready,” two for “close to meeting expectations” and one point for “in need of support.”

Haas Hall Academy, a public charter school in Fayetteville, was again ranked as the top high school overall with the state’s best rankings in each of the math, English language arts and science scores. The 663 students tested at Haas Hall earned a 3.57 GPA as 91 percent of students met or exceeded benchmarks.

A second Haas Hall Academy school in Bentonville earned the second-best marks with a

3.53 GPA as 90 percent of the

723 students tested met or exceeded benchmarks. Rogers New Technology High School was ranked No. 3 in the state as 984 students earned a GPA of 2.72 and 57 percent met or exceeded benchmarks.

Magnet Cove’s 2.47 GPA placed the school at No. 4 in the Central Region with 642 test-takers. Bismarck ranked fifth in the region with a 2.46 GPA and 495 test-takers.

According to the Office for Education Policy, most of the high-achieving high schools serve smaller student populations less economically disadvantaged than some of their peers. Similar patterns were found among high-achieving schools in the elementary, middle and junior high levels.

The top 20 schools, excluding the two Haas Hall campuses, serve a combined student population in which only 33 percent participate in free and reduced price meals. The state high school average is 61 percent.

Haas Hall campuses do not serve lunch to students. The academy’s parent/faculty council voted unanimously in 2006 to require all students to bring their lunches to schools.

Bismarck reported the fourth-largest percentage of students on free and reduced lunch among the top 20 high-achieving high schools. The school’s

63 percent trailed only Concord, No. 13, 64 percent; Timbo, No.

15, 81 percent; and Norfork, No.

11, 82 percent.

Aspire tests in math, reading, writing, English and science were administered to students in grades 3-10 during the 2015-16 school year. The OEP created combined English language arts rankings based on scores from the reading, writing and English tests.

Rankings for the 2015-16 academic year are not directly comparable to previous years due to another state change in the assessment of student performance. The ACT Aspire replaced the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College Careers examinations.

Magnet Cove earned a 2.37 GPA in math and ranked No.

9 in the state as 44 percent of

214 students met or exceeded expectations. The scores ranked Magnet Cove second in central Arkansas behind only MountVernon-Enola-High-School, which had 161 test-takers.

Lakeside’s 773 test-takers earned a 2.33 GPA and 44 percent met or exceeded expectations for third place in the region. Bismarck ranked fifth in the region at 41 percent and a 2.28 GPA.