Bentonville School District 2012-13 Performance

1. Bentonville School District 2012-13 Performance November 21, 2012 Gary W. Ritter Director Office for Education Policy

2. Overview of Today’s Presentation • Introduction to the OEP • Arkansas’ Achievement on National Tests • State Benchmark Scores over time • How does Bentonville compare? • Bentonville Elementary Data • Bentonville Mid/JR High Data • How Should we Rate Schools?

3. AR Education Reports • Policy Briefs • Report Cards • Newsletters • Data Resources • OEP is a research center within the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas that specializes in • Education Research and Policy. • www.officeforeducationpolicy.org/

4. Arkansas Achievement on National Tests • The NAEP, often called “The Nation’s Report Card,” is administered to a representative sample of Arkansas students in grades 4, 8 and 12 every other year. It includes math and reading subtests. • As can be seen in the NAEP graphs, Arkansas’ performance is improving and approaching the national average in several areas, but continues to lag behind the nation as a whole in math and reading. • 2013 12th grade data for math and reading will be released in the winter.

5. Arkansas NAEP Time Trends: Math Math Proficiency %, Grade 4, 1992-2013 Math Proficiency %, Grade 8, 1992-2013 • In math, both grades are decreasing the gap between Arkansas and the nation, especially 4th graders. The 4th grade has shrunk from -8 in 1992 to -2 in 2013. • However, Arkansas still performs less well than the nation in math in grades 4-8 on the NAEP.

6. Arkansas NAEP Time Trends: Reading Reading Prof. %, Grade 8, 1992-2013 Reading Prof. %, Grade 4, 1992-2013 • Again, Arkansas performs less well than the nation in reading in grades 4-8 on the NAEP. • However, the state has closed the gap. • The narrative that “Arkansas Ranks 49th in Education” has little merit!

7. Overall AR Achievement on STATE Exams:How was Arkansas’ performance on the Benchmark and End-of-Course Exams in 2012-13? Over time?

8. State Scores on Benchmarks • Growth over time, until slight decrease in 2012-13 in literacy and math • Slight decrease can be attributed to many factors, including ceiling effects and CCSS “implementation dip” • Grade-level trends: lower grades perform at higher levels than upper grades Arkansas Overall, Grade 3 – 8, % Proficient/Advanced, Over time

9. Regional Variations on Exams Math Benchmark, Grades 3-8 Literacy Benchmark, Grades 3-8 • Higher-performing regions: Northwest and Northeast

10. EOC Performance • In 2012-13, slight decreases in Algebra & Geometry scores • Steady increases in Grade 11 Literacy and Biology scores over time

11. Math: Compared to Region & AR

12. LIT: Compared to Region & AR

13. Achievement & Attainment: Compared to Rest of Big Five! Datasets allow us to study achievement of all students and vulnerable student groups. Highest test scores in region for all students, but still room for improvement in Grad Rates.

14. How does Bentonville compare with Similar Districts?

15. Bentonville v. Comparable Districts – Math

16. Bentonville v. Comparable Districts – Literacy

17. Beyond Arkansas?

18. Bentonville Elementary Data

19. Middle School/Junior High Data

20. State Rating System?? • How informative is this rating? • Background data are perhaps useful.

21. More Useful?

22. Questions or Comments?