Park, Bismarck earn high PARCC marks

JAY BELL The Sentinel-Record

Park International Baccalaureate Magnet School and Bismarck High School garnered the highest distinctions among local schools in this week’s reports on student performance on the 2014-15 standardized tests.

Other schools in the Centerpoint, Cutter Morning Star, Hot Springs, Jessieville, Lakeside, Malvern and Mount Ida districts were also recognized in the reports.

The Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas released five new reports for its Outstanding Educational Performance Awards to highlight high-achieving Arkansas schools based on performance on last year’s exams. The 2014-15 school year was the first and only time the state contracted for a full implementation of exams through the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Selected schools piloted PARCC tests at various levels in the 2013-14 school year.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson pushed for a state break from PARCC after a recommendation from the Governor’s Council on Common Core Review, which was led by Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin. The Board of Education initially voted last summer against the governor’s recommendation to contract with ACT Aspire instead of PARCC. The change was approved after Hutchinson appointed three new members to the board.

Park earned the best overall ranking of any school in the area of any level. The school was ranked third in the state among elementary schools for its PARCC scores.

The awards are based upon a grade-point average measure calculated based on the number of students who perform at each level on the exams. The method was slightly altered this year due to the five performance levels on PARCC.

Exceeded Expectations was assigned 4 points, Met Expectations was 3 points, Approached Expectations was 2 points, Partially Met Expectations was 1 point and zero points were given for Did Not Meet Expectations. The Office of Education Policy said the GPAs dropped this year due to more challenging assessments and are not directly comparable to the previous OEP awards.

Park ranked second in the Central region behind Forest Park Elementary School in Little Rock. Forest Park earned a 2.88 GPA as 75 percent of students met or exceeded expectations. Park’s students earned a 2.71 GPA and 68 percent met or exceeded expectations.

The magnet school placed second overall with a 2.73 GPA in math behind only Forest Park. Park placed fourth in the state in literacy and third in the Central region.

Centerpoint Primary School was ranked in the top five overall and in both subject areas for the Southwest region. The school was ranked fourth overall with a 2.10 GPA, second in math with a 2.23 GPA behind only Genoa Elementary School and tied for fifth in literacy with a 2.13 GPA.

“We were pleased to see a lot of new schools on our lists this year and noted that nearly half of the top 10 elementary schools were newcomers to this award,” according to the OEP blog. “We particularly celebrate the increased representation of schools from the Central region of the state who are receiving High Achieving awards.”

Bismarck ranked eighth overall for performance on PARCC’s math exams. Students scored a 2.26 GPA as 44 percent met or exceeded expectations. Bismarck ranked second in the Central region behind Benton High School.

The school was tied for seventh place in the math rankings with Siloam Springs at a 2.15 GPA and second in Central after Benton. Bismarck did not rank in the top 10 in literacy, but earned fourth place in Central behind Parkview, Benton and Mount Vernon-Enola, respectively, with a 2.37 GPA.

Mount Ida High School ranked fourth in the Southwest region. The school earned a 1.83 GPA as 26 percent of students met or exceeded expectations.

Lakeside Middle School is the only school in the area to earn recognition on the middle level PARCC scores. No local schools made the top 20 overall, the top 10 in math, or the top 10 in literacy. Lakeside placed fifth in the Central region with a 2.05 GPA as 36 percent of students met or exceeded expectations.

No local schools were ranked in any of the reports for high-achieving junior high schools.

Schools at Centerpoint, Cutter Morning Star, Hot Springs, Jessieville, Malvern and Mount Ida were recognized in the “Beating the Odds” rankings based on those that serve low-income communities. The special awards were presented to school whose students scored well despite significant challenges.

The “Beating the Odds” report only included schools that serve free and reduced lunch to at least 66 percent of the student population.

Centerpoint Primary School was the only area school to earn an overall top 10 ranking in math. The school was ranked third overall and first in the Southwest region with a 2.23 GPA. The report shows 77 percent of students receive free and reduced lunches and 47 met or exceeded expectations.

Cutter Morning Star tied for third place in the Central region with a 2.06 GPA. The school serves free and reduced lunch to 79 percent of students and 33 met or exceeded expectations.

No local districts were ranked in the overall top 10 for middle schools, junior high schools or high school, but several were recognized in the regional rankings. The junior high portion of the report did not include regional rankings.

The middle school rankings included seven schools from northwest Arkansas, two from the southwest and one from the northeast region.

Hot Springs Intermediate School ranked first in the Central region with a 1.62 GPA. The school serves free and reduced lunch to 86 percent of students.

Jessieville Middle School, 71 percent free and reduced, placed second with a 1.61 GPA. Wilson Intermediate School in Malvern, 77 percent free and reduced lunch, placed fourth with a 1.57 GPA.

The top 10 in the high school rankings were comprised of six schools from northwest Arkansas, three from the northeast and one from the southwest region.

Cutter Morning Star was ranked first in the Central region. Students earned a 1.53 GPA. The school serves free and reduced lunches to 71 percent of its students.

Hot Springs High School, 76 percent free and reduced, ranked second with a 1.36 GPA. Jessieville High School, 66 percent free and reduced, ranked third with a GPA of 1.25.

Mount Ida, 66 percent free and reduced, placed second in the Southwest region behind Horatio. Students earned a 1.83 GPA.

Hot Springs Middle School was the only school in the area to place in a top 10 of the “Beating the Odds” overall rankings for literacy. The middle school was ranked fifth in the junior high rankings.

The school serves free and reduced lunch to 79 percent of students, who earned a 1.69 GPA. No regional rankings were included for junior high schools, but Hot Springs was the only school from the Central region in the top 10.

Hot Springs Intermediate School, 86 percent free and reduced lunch, placed fifth in the middle school rankings for the Central region. The school’s students earned a 1.73 GPA.

Both Centerpoint elementary schools were recognized in the Southwest region rankings for literacy performance. Centerpoint Intermediate School, 69 percent free and reduced lunch, earned a 2.09 GPA. Centerpoint Primary School, 77 percent free and reduced lunch, ranked fifth with a GPA of 1.97.

Cutter Morning Star ranked first in the Central region rankings for high school achievement in literacy with a 1.72 GPA. Hot Springs placed third at 1.49. Jessieville High School, 66 percent free and reduced, was ranked fifth with a 1.41 GPA.

Mount Ida was ranked second in the Southwest region with a GPA of 1.82.