SNSD board discusses ACT Aspire test scores

The Smackover-Norphlet school board of directors met on Monday at the Mount Holly Community Church in Mount Holly. The board plans to meet at several locations throughout the district in future meetings.

SNSD director of academics and school improvement Holly Strickland presented standardized test scores from the district’s 2022-23 ACT Aspire to the board.

Strickland presented the data divided by grade levels into subjects including English, math, literacy (ELA), reading and STEM and with indications of where each grade is in comparison to the state average.

Strickland said administrators are using the data to try to pinpoint the areas most in need of focus in the district.

“We’re looking at grade level data, we’re looking at curriculum, standards - what are the areas we need to focus on for improvement or, for the students who are doing well, how are we promoting those students?” Strickland said.

She began with English results, saying that the district’s third, fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth grades met or exceeded the state average.

“We were close in some of the other grades… The English [part of the test] shows the grammar, sentence structure, and things of that sort,” she said.

She next went over the math results for board members.

“Math is a key component of what we want to look at… Fourth grade is the only grade level that met the state average, however you can see some are very close within that range and you can see some that are attention-getters,” Strickland said.

SNSD board member Damon Goodwin asked a question for clarification about the ACT Aspire tests, asking if the tests put questions to students that are above their grade level.

“Is there any way [students] are being tested on things that they haven’t been over yet?” Goodwin.

“Yes, ACT Aspire is a norm-referenced test, so you may have skills that are tested up a grade level, down a grade level or they may be grade level skills,” Strickland responded.

The district beginning this year will be moving to the [NEW TEST].

“For next year, when we take that test, if you’re taking algebra 1, you’ll be tested on algebra 1 skills. If you’re taking 8th grade math, you’ll be taking the 8th grade math test. So that’s the hope we have in the new testing system, that we’re excited about, is that we’ll be testing apples to apples,” she continued.

Strickland next went over reading results.

“In 3rd grade we were equal to the state average, and fifth, sixth and ninth grade were high above average, which was very exciting to see,” Strickland said.

The data is being used, she continued, by principals and teachers to evaluate curriculum and standards teaching to determine areas of improvement.

“Reading, in a lot of areas,

was really good, and there’s some areas that need some attention,” Strickland said.

She next went over ELA, which is comprised of writing and literacy standards.

“In fifth, sixth and ninth grade, again, we’ve got it going on in those three grade levels in reading,” she said.

Strickland later said that the district is implementing new ELA curriculum in grades K-12.

Next up were the district’s STEM results.

“STEM is an area we’re having to continue to focus on. Last year, we had a shortage of teachers at the middle school so we didn’t offer any of those classes there,” Strickland said.

Strickland went on to say that district administrators and principals have been working on improvement goals based on the test results including new ELA curriculum and a focus on tier 1 instruction.

“We have to get back to that focus on tier 1 instruction. Tier 1 instruction is the daily standards at that grade level that those teachers need to be teaching at… That’s where we’re targeting this year; I call it getting back to the basics- knowing [and teaching] those standards,” Strickland said.

She said a third corrective action is a new intervention program that was discussed by the school board during their April meeting.

The program is called B.U.C.K.S. Time (Building up Core Knowledge and Skills) and will allow students 30 minutes each day to either receive an academic intervention based on their needs or to take part in an enrichment or extension activity if an intervention is not needed.

Strickland told board members that she has extensively looked at and analyzed the data and shared it with principals and teachers for use in refining educational strategies. “This data gives principals what they need in order to go and look at those teachers and [give] more support… A lot of things that have come from this, I think, have put us in the right place as we work through this year in our Professional Learning Communities,” she said.

State ACT Aspire results, released by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education in July, can be found here:

https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/learning-services/assessment-test-scores/2023