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Our Vision

Our Vision. Arkansas should build on the successes on the Lake View era to tackle the achievement gap with approaches shown by research to work. A holistic, multi-pronged approach is crucial: There is no single intervention that will solve the achievement gap puzzle

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Our Vision

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  1. Our Vision • Arkansas should build on the successes on the Lake View era to tackle the achievement gap with approaches shown by research to work. • A holistic, multi-pronged approach is crucial: • There is no single intervention that will solve the achievement gap puzzle • The commitment to tackling the achievement gap must show itself at all levels: policymakers, school leaders, community leaders, empowered parents • We offer seven specific proposals that can occur at the state level to help Arkansas close the achievement gap • Success is possible: Other states not unlike Arkansas have closed their achievement gaps in recent years

  2. The 2000s: A Decade of Significant Educational Reform in Arkansas Since the Arkansas Supreme Court’s 2002 Lake View decision:• U.S. Department of Education has recognized Arkansas for rigorous curricular standards.• Teacher pay raised to rank 32nd in the nation.• Over $100 million a year for quality preschool. Arkansas ranked first in the nation in the quality of its early childhood educational standards.• State per pupil funding for public education dramatically increased. Several hundred million dollars appropriated to improve school facilities.

  3. Benefits to Public Education of Increased Attention and Investment • Education Week ranked Arkansas 8th in the nation for overall educational quality. • From 2003 to 2007, Arkansas has been one of three states to improve on three of the four National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. Arkansas is now at or near national averages. • The average ACT score for Arkansas students grew from 17 in 2001 to 21 in 2006, the most growth for any state testing at least half of its graduating seniors.

  4. Great Achievements, But Persistent Achievement Gap

  5. Our Methodology • Immersion in the vast literature on interventions that have shown success in closing the achievement gap, with a focus on statewide interventions. • Ultimately, nine general areas for which we have research-based evidence for success. • Do Arkansas’s actions in each area during the Lake View era have promise for closing the achievement gap?

  6. Two Areas of Success, But Limited Promise for Closing the Achievement Gap in the Future • Facilities improvement • Curriculum and Instructional Strategies

  7. Opportunities for Enhancing Existing Successful Interventions • Early Childhood Education • Teacher Quality • High Quality Charter Schools

  8. Early Childhood Education • More than any other intervention, proven to reduce the Achievement Gap • Arkansas Better Chance Program • Over $100 million a year in state support • High Quality Standards • Students to 200% of poverty are eligible • Recommendation: To broaden participation and achieve higher rates of pre-K attendance, a major public communications effort.

  9. Teacher Quality • Key to student achievement, but low-income and minority children tend to have less experienced, less well-qualified teachers. • Financial Incentives in Arkansas • Up to $10,000 bonus for high-priority districts • $5,000 annually for earning National Board certification • Arkansas is national leader in developing a longitudinal tracking system to allow the value added by to students’ learning to be calculated. • Recommendation: Aggressively implement the longitudinal tracking system and use this data to improve the way Arkansas teachers are educated, distributed, and developed in service.

  10. High-Quality Charter Schools • Charter schools with distinctive traits shown to reduce achievement gap • Extended learning time • Rigorous professional development • Strong school leadership • Recommendation: Any new charter schools be focused on reducing the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap and use methods proven by scientific research to close the achievement gap.

  11. Significant Opportunities for New Interventions • We believe that serious new investments in the following four areas will have the most dramatic impact on the achievement gap. • School-Based Health Programs • Out of School Programs: After School, Summer • Class Size Reduction in Early Grades • Parental Engagement and Community-Based Organizing

  12. School-Based Health • Students with health challenges spend less time in school  lower test scores, a greater likelihood of grade retention, and lower graduation rates. • Arkansans favor school-based health efforts (79% approve) • Low-income, African American, and Latino students are more likely to have health problems. • Coordinated School Health Initiative • 30 Arkansas schools • Recommendation: re-introduce state funding to support school-based health clinics for under-served students.

  13. Out of School Programs • Summer learning loss (traced to 2/3 of black-white reading gap) and unproductive time between 3 and 6pm are key causes of the achievement gap • 21st Century Community Learning Centers • Arkansas Out of School Network • But no statewide funding and quality assessment system • Recommendation: Arkansas aggressively implement any forthcoming recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on After-School and Summer Programs.

  14. Class Size Reduction • Tennessee STAR program rigorously proven to improve students’ test scores, behavior, and graduation rates, especially among African American students • Class sizes of 13-17 • Grades K-3 • Arkansas has no statewide CSR initiative • Recommendation: State funding for reduced class sizes in early grades targeted to schools with high proportions of students from low-income, African American, or Latino families.

  15. Parental Engagement and Community Organizing • Arkansas’s HIPPY program • Home visits and one-on-one training • Parents become engaged in children’s learning • Children and parents gain self-confidence. • Schools of the 21st Century (21C): 173 schools • Texas Industrial Areas Foundation model • Community-based organization to build social capital among parents and community. • Recommendation: State support to sustain the successes achieved by Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation-supported 21C Schools.

  16. Our Hope • Our Hope: This study generates discussion and action among policymakers, parents, and citizens by providing high-priority ideas • Recommended Approach: • Holistic and multi-pronged • Local activism and innovation as well as state support and guidance. • Great successes, but work remains

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