Junction City plans for grade improvement
Parental involvement seen as key factor in improving figures
Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a six-part series looking at Union County schools and the grades each received from the state. The first part looked at how the state calculates each grade. Each installment after that covers a different school district in Union County.
For the Junction City School District, parental involvement is a key factor, among others, in improving the district’s grade from the state.
Arkansas released the grades for the 2017-18 school year in the beginning of October both to the general public and to the schools. The grades and breakdown are available at myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov. In Union County, no school received an A grade.
In those grades, Junction City Elementary received a D and Junction City High School received a C.
“We recognize that we have deficiencies and we’re working to address them,” said Superintendent Robby Lowe. “We’re stepping back and examining, making plans and shifting plans to assess students’ ability to think independently.”
Lowe said the three broad areas that the district is looking into are curriculum, instruction and personnel.
“We want to get the right person reaching the right information in the right way,” he said. “We think we have great students and great staff, it’s just what they’re teaching and how.”
Joy Mason, JCHS principal, said that across both schools teachers are working to implement programs such as IXL which works in core areas, USA Test Prep and commonlit.org. She said that part of what makes those programs easier to work with is having Chromebooks in every classroom.
She also said teachers are working to adjust teaching styles. Along with traditional instruction, teachers are using break out groups where they can work with students in smaller groups with more focus on each student.
“The whole education process has moved to student-focused,” Mason said.
Another important aspect in a student’s education is parental involvement, said both Mason and Lowe.
“Quality of instruction is No. 1,” Mason said. “Parental involvement is No. 1.5.”
The school has a policy on its website explaining ways to get parents involved. This includes elements such as a monthly newsletter from JCES, a calendar of events and links to educational websites, a weekly folder sent home with graded assignments and tests that parents are expected to sign, parent meetings, and an annual needs assessment survey.
Teresa Matochik, JCES principal, said the Parent Teacher Organization is very involved with the schools in projects such as fundraising for new playground equipment.
One thing that all three agreed on is that there’s additional challenges with students coming from low income backgrounds. The district is made up of 65 percent lowincome students.
Lowe said the school is trying to break the cycle with students whose parents may not have gone to college or put an emphasis on school.
“Test scores are reported by demographic. Demographics matter,” Lowe said. “Generally, low income students test lower not because of ability but because of their background. That’s where parents involvement comes in. That’s what we mean by breaking the cycle.”
One thing Mason said she takes particular pride in is the district’s graduation rate. The grading system looks at both fouryear and five-year graduation rates. JCSH scored 89.06 for four-year graduation – the state average is 88.95 – and 100 for fiveyear graduation rate – the state average is 89.47.
“I pay a lot of attention to the graduation rate because that really matters,” Mason said. “We want these students to succeed and that diploma makes a difference.”
To find that score, the state looks at the number of expecting graduates compared to the number of actual graduates. For the four-year score, JCHS expected 64 students to graduate and 57 actually did. For the five-year score, JCHS expected 55 students to graduate and all did for the 2017-18 school year.
Mason also said that having South Arkansas Community College nearby and willing to work with students helps. She said the college works with the schools to allow students to take college courses during the afternoon.
“(Students are) struggling to find the money for college and the local community
college is a good place to start,” she said.
Lowe said there are factors that the current grading system doesn’t look at. However, all schools are evaluated on the same information and they can now focus on trying to improve those areas.
“The A-F scale doesn’t necessarily focus on the community. It’s focused on how students test and that’s what we’re trying to address,” Lowe said. “We take ownership. We’re evaluated the same as everybody else, but we’re working hard to help our students. We don’t hope to make progress, we’re going to make progress.”