By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Results of the latest Benchmark Exam show marked improvements in the Forrest City district by fourth and eighth grade students in both math and literacy.
Sixth graders didn't show as much improvement, although there were fewer sixth grade students in the "below basic" category.
"The teachers have really worked hard at all grade levels to bring up these scores," said Phyllis Russell, test coordinator for the district. "The Benchmark Exam is supposed to be 100 percent correlated with the Arkansas Frameworks and the teachers have honed in on teaching those skills."
Russell explained that the Arkansas Framework is a curriculum guide.
"This is a very hard test," Russell said. "It has critical thinking and skills including solving open response questions in both math and literacy."
In math, Forrest City Fourth graders improved from 55 percent to 46 percent in "below basic." They also improved from 17 percent to 16 percent in "basic," which is not to be confused with "proficient." In the "proficient" category, the fourth graders improved from 9 percent to 22 percent, although they fell off from 20 percent to 16 percent in "advanced."
In literacy, the fourth graders improved from 25 percent to 14 percent in "below basic." In "Basic," they improved from 33 percent to 30 percent. Fourth graders scoring "proficient" improved from 40 to 48 percent, and those scoring "advanced" improved from 2 percent to 8 percent.
Eighth graders, in math, showed a decrease in "below basic from 53 percent to 49 percent and those in "basic" improved from 45 to 40 percent. Eighth graders made an impressive jump, from 2 percent to 10 percent, in "proficient." None were rated "advanced" in math for either year.
In literacy, eighth graders improved from 47 to 35 percent in "below basic" and from 42 to 41 percent in "basic." Eighth graders again showed an impressive leap, form 9 percent to 21 percent, in "proficient" and also improved from 1 percent to 3 percent in "advanced."
Sixth grade students showed a decrease in math proficiency of 1 percent, in both "proficient" and "advanced" categories. However, those scoring "below basic" were reduced from 72 to 67 percent. Those scoring "basic" increased from 15 to 22 percent.
In literacy, Forrest City sixth graders stayed the same, at 10 percent in "proficient" and also stayed the same in "advanced," with none scoring that high. Sixth graders did reduce the number of "below basic" scores from 51 percent to 40 percent, but "basic" scores increased from 38 to 50 percent.
Statewide, two-thirds of Arkansas' fourth-graders scored equivalent to their grade level on last year's statewide Benchmark Exam, improving from the year before.
Sixth- and eighth-graders showed improvements in the math and literacy portions of the test, but a majority still scored below their grade levels, according to preliminary test results released by the state.
The fourth-graders showed the greatest improvement, with the number of proficient scores up by 12 points. Forty-eight percent of eighth-graders scored at proficient or better levels in literacy, up 11 points.
Other statistics from the early results showed marginal improvement:
--Forty-percent of sixth-graders showed proficiency in math, up 4 points. Only 31 percent of sixth-graders reached grade level in literacy, a 1-point increase.
--Twenty-six percent of eighth-graders reached proficiency or better in math, up 2 percentage points.
''We are very pleased,'' said Ray Simon, director of the state Department of Education. ''It again shows the dedication our teachers have toward school reform.''
In April more than 100,000 students in the three grades took the test, which is designed to measure what pupils in certain grades know and should be able to do.
The final results of the tests, which will be available in August, will be used to help develop specialized curricula for struggling students, and could also be used to pinpoint schools that chronically underperform.
That could have serious implications for some schools under the No Child Left Behind Act signed into law by President George Bush in 2001. The law allows students to transfer from underperforming schools, which could additional sanctions.
The state's 308 school districts began getting the test results earlier this week, said Charity Smith, associate director for accountability in the state Department of Education. Each school, teacher and parent of tested students will receive the scores after school starts in August.
''I am very pleased with where we are,'' Smith said about the preliminary results. ''We still have a long way to go as any state does, but we are on the right track, and I am really proud of the children of Arkansas.''
Education officials and legislators were relieved that the results seem to be coming in on time.
The scoring on the test is done by Questar Educational Systems Inc. of Eagan, Minn. Last month legislators questioned Education Department officials about a $6.3 million extension of Questar's contract through June 2004, because the company has produced late standardized-test results in the past two years.
''I'm very pleased that the tests are back prior to the start of the school year,'' Rep. Bill Stovall, D-Quitman, said. ''I think that's a big, big help and advantage to the education system, particularly the instructors, because now they have the Benchmark to kind of give them an idea where they're at and where they need to take the children.''
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A program which began three years ago to rid the state of boll weevils is reporting success statewide, and numbers in St. Francis and the surrounding counties support that assessment.
According to a press release from the Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Program, cotton farmers in the central eradication zone, which in addition to SFC, includes Prairie, Monroe, Lee, Phillips, Cross, Crittenden, Independence, Woodruff and a portion of Desha counties, have seen a 99.97 percent reduction in boll weevil numbers since the program's inception. In other portions of the state, officials have seen a 100 percent reduction in the pest.
"Our staff is very dedicated to eradicating the boll weevil and serving the Arkansas cotton growers. These kinds of results make all the hard work worthwhile for all of us," said Danny Kiser, Director of the Program.
When comparing this season's boll weevil trap captures with that of weevil captures during the same time period a year ago, in the above zones, the program has achieved a 98 percent reduction in boll weevil populations in just one season. "We are blessed," Kiser said, "This reduction rate is far above our expectations."
According to St. Francis County Cooperative Extension Service manager Mitch Crow, the comments he's heard from area farmers have all been positive.
"It's really been kind of quiet this year, but what I have heard from the farmers have been positive comments about how the numbers have gone down," Crow said.
According to Ronnie Jarratt with Jarratt Farms, the program has been a success for their operation and has helped increase their yields.
"I don't have any complaints with the program, and as a matter of fact, it has helped us increase our yields," said Jarratt.
According to Jarratt, who partners with his brother Jerry, the work with the program has also helped increase the quality of their cotton.
"For years, it seemed like we couldn't get a good top crop because the weevils would get to that first. Over the last couple of years we've definitely seen a better top crop which has helped with the overall yield," he said.
Through tracking this year, not a single boll weevil has been captured in the Arkansas Southwest Boll Weevil Eradication zone, which covers Little River, Hempstead, Miller and Lafayette counties. In the Southeast Eradication zone, Pulaski, Lonoke, Jefferson, Arkansas, Lincoln, part of Desha, Drew, Chicot and part of Ashley counties, the numbers equal the Central Eradication zone.
The Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Program is part of a nationwide effort to eliminate the pest which crossed the border from Mexico into the southern states from 1892 to 1922. The eradication program is funded through a mix of cotton grower and land owner assessments based on a per-acre fee established through grower referenda or set by the Arkansas State Plant Board along with USDA APHIS grants and Arkansas State grant funds. Arkansas cotton growers have invested approximately $104 million in the Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Program, an investment they plan to see returned over and over to them and generations to come in the form of reduced insecticide use, increased yields per acre, and higher quality cotton.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Forrest City School District Deputy Superintendent Dr. Alice Barnes was recently appointed to a new state committee which will help establish the standards for licensing teachers, administrators and support staff in public schools across the state.
Barnes is one of four administrators appointed to the 15-member Professional Education, Development, Licensure, and Assessment Board. "I feel honored to have been selected, and I feel that my appointment will enable the Forrest City School District to play a major role in how licensing takes place in the state of Arkansas. This will also allow me to present some of the hiring issues that we face in our district and effect change statewide," Barnes said.
According to Act 1811 of 2003, the act establishing the board, board members will be responsible for establishing standards for licensure of teachers in all subject fields and levels as well as the standards for licensure of administrators and support personnel. Board members will also set up rules and regulations concerning program accreditation including traditional and non-traditional routes to licensure.
According to Barnes, the road to non-traditional licensure will draw her interest due to the increasing needs for teachers throughout the state.
"Our main focus will probably be on finding ways to get teacher certification rates up and also working to clear up some of the issues with hiring non-traditional teachers. There is an increased need for teachers throughout the state, and we need to look at some new and creative ways of getting teachers through non-traditional forms via certification. The process right now leaves applicants waiting a considerable amount of time to find out if they can be licensed, and it leaves districts waiting to find out if we can hire the person that we want or have to restart the process," Barnes said.
The first meeting of the board must be held prior to Sept. 1, and board members will draw for their terms at the meeting, according to Act 1811. No board member may serve more than two consecutive terms.
Vandals focused their attentions on a local church Monday afternoon, breaking several windows and painting on two buildings at Christ Church School on Ophelia Street.
The vandalism is believed to have occurred between noon and about 5:30 p.m. when Edward Norman checked on the building.
Norman told police the damage was done after a summer group that he oversees left the building Monday.
According to the Forrest City Police Department, 12 windows were broken and blue paint was used on two of the buildings at the church. Both buildings were also entered by the vandals, police reported.
Damage is estimated at $1,400.