School Performance

Blue Ribbon Schools and Letter Grades

Today we learned that three Arkansas schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. The annual recognition is given to schools based on academic performance, or progress toward closing achievement gaps among student groups on tests.

S. C. Tucker Elementary School in Danville and Westside Elementary School in Cabot were recognized as Exemplary High Performing Schools. Parkview Elementary School in Van Buren was recognized as an Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School. Congratulations to these schools!

Since the Blue Ribbon program began in 1982, 69 Arkansas schools have been recognized as Blue Ribbon Schools. Arkansas’ award winners are generally public schools, but three private schools have also been named. You can check out the full list here.

Like we discussed recently regarding U.S. News rankings of the ‘best’ high schools, award programs may have a different method for determining what counts as ‘best’ or ‘blue ribbon’ than we do within the state. We wanted to take a peek and see how Arkansas’ recent Blue Ribbon winners are faring on the things Arkansas feels are the most important for public schools.

For the schools announced today, 2 received “A”s and 1 received a “B” letter grade in 2022. Here at OEP, we know that schools serving more economically advantaged populations are more likely to get an “A” because their students tend to perform better on the state assessments. Our focus is on how much growth students make in their learning over the course of a year, because we think that is the best indicator of how well a school is helping students learn. We were excited to see that all three of this year’s Blue ribbon Schools were in the top 1% for student academic growth and OEP award winners!

How are schools that have been awarded Blue Ribbons in the past performing? School performance can change over time, so we examined the 2022 letter grades for the 16 public schools that have been awarded Blue Ribbons since 2017 when consideration first began to be based on the ACT Aspire exams.

Of these 16 prior Blue Ribbon Schools, 9 received a letter grade of “A” from the state in 2022. Three prior Blue Ribbon Schools received a “B”, 1 school received a “C”, 2 schools received a “D”, and 1 school received an “F”.

In terms of growth, only 5 of the 16 prior Blue Ribbon Schools were in the top 10% for student academic growth in 2022.

School ESSA reports and associated letter grades for 2023 will be released soon, and OEP will be sending out awards to those schools where students are demonstrating the highest growth! Unlike the process to get a “Blue Ribbon”, schools don’t need to get nominated or fill out application to get an OEP award. They just need to demonstrate Outstanding Educational Performance by growing learning for all students!

Stay tuned to find out if your school is a 2023 OEP award winner!

The “Best High Schools” for Arkansas students

Yesterday, U.S. News & World Report released their annual “Best High Schools” rankings. Here at the OEP, we want to make sure that you understand what the “Best” title is based on, and how this compares with what Arkansas has determined is “Best” for Arkansas students

The U.S. News “Best High School” ratings are generally based on standardized test scores. Decades of research shows that students from more advantaged backgrounds are more likely to score well on these types of assessments. It is not surprising then, that only one of the ten “Best” high schools serves a population of students that even approaches the statewide average of 66% economically disadvantaged. Shout out to Rogers New Tech High who ranks in the top 10 while 50% of their students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds!

Below are the 2023 top 10 public high schools in Arkansas according to U.S. News. For context, we noted the 2022-23 percentage of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch provided in MySchoolInfo, which is used as an indicator of student poverty rates.

  1. Haas Hall Academy (5% FRL)
  2. Haas Hall Academy at the Lane (17% FRL)
  3. Haas Hall Academy at the Jones Center (18% FRL)
  4. Founders Classical Academies of Arkansas High School Rogers (formerly Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy High) (9% FRL)
  5. Bentonville High School (15% FRL)
  6. Rogers New Tech (50% FRL)
  7. Greenbrier High (33% FRL)
  8. Fayetteville High (27% FRL)
  9. Valley Springs High (37% FRL)
  10. Bentonville West High School (23% FRL)

Arkansas uses letter grades to communicate school quality. Each year, the state combines high school achievement on state assessments, learning growth, graduation rates, and other measures of school quality (attendance, GPA, advanced coursework, public service, etc.) to assign high schools an overall score. These scores are the basis for an A-F letter grade. The new grade for 2023 will be released soon, but you can find the 2022 grades for all schools here!

Nineteen Arkansas high schools were rated “A” in 2022, but only six of them are in the top ten of the U.S. News “Best” list. Of the four remaining “Best” schools, three received a “B” and one received a “C”.

Differences in who is the “Best” is the result of what is being valued and measured. Here at OEP, annual growth in student learning is what we give awards for, and today we are recognizing districts for Best Freshman Success. Post-secondary outcomes like college-going rates, industry certifications earned, completion of a coherent Career and Technical Education sequence, and employment after high school graduation are other indicators of a high school that is doing a great job preparing students for their future. Let’s make sure that we are celebrating schools that are the “Best” for Arkansas students.

Beating the Odds Awards 2022

This week, OEP is thrilled to recognize Arkansas schools that are Beating the Odds!  The final installment of this year’s Outstanding Educational Performance awards, Beating the Odds award winners serve a population where at least 66% of students face economic challenges and where the students are demonstrating the highest levels of academic growth.  Unlike other indicators of school performance, academic growth is not very correlated with school demographics. As ESSA scores and the subsequent letter grades include indicators that are correlated with poverty, sometimes these schools have lower achievement rates and do not get the recognition that they deserve.  Our Beating the Odds schools received letter grades ranging from A to F, even though they are all demonstrating high growth!  You can check out the info for all school in our updated Letter Grades dataset. We feel it is important to recognize those schools that are helping their students who may be at-risk grow their learning at the highest rates.

OEP Beating the Odds awards for schools are based on the growth of elementary, middle, and high school students on the ACT Aspire Math and English Language Arts assessments.

Here at OEP, we choose to highlight student academic growth because we believe that it is the best reflection of the impact that a school is having on students’ academic success.

Beating the Odds Overall Growth: Elementary Level

The top elementary school Beating the Odds for overall student growth is S.C. Tucker Elementary from Danville School District, with an overall growth score of 88.55. S.C. Tucker Elementary also took the top spot for growth in math at 88.66. Green Forest Elementary from Green Forest School District had the highest growth score in ELA at 89.24.

Beating the Odds Overall Growth: Middle Level

The top middle school for overall student growth is eStem East Village Junior High, with an overall growth score of 86.05. eStem East Village Junior High also took the top spot for growth in math at 87.56 and in ELA at 84.48.

Beating the Odds Overall Growth: High School Level

The top high school for overall student growth is Cave City High Career & Collegiate Preparatory from Cave City School District, with an overall growth score of 83.87. Dardanelle High from Dardanelle School District was in the top spot for math at 85.44. Booneville High School from Eureka Springs School District had the highest growth in ELA at 84.02.


The 10 Beating the Odds elementary schools with the highest overall content growth are:

  • S.C. Tucker Elementary, Danville SD (76% FRL)
  • Green Forest Elementary, Green Forest SD (81% FRL)***
  • Weiner Elementary, Harrisburg SD (67% FRL)**
  • Cedar Ridge Elementary, Cedar Ridge SD (77% FRL)
  • Calico Rock Elementary, Calico Rock SD (82% FRL)
  • Dardanelle Primary, Dardanelle SD (71% FRL)
  • Wakefield Elementary, Little Rock SD (98% FRL)
  • John Tyson Elementary, Springdale SD (74% FRL)
  • Des Arc Elementary, Des Arc SD (71% FRL)
  • Bayyari Elementary, Springdale SD (89% FRL)
  • George Elementary, Springdale SD (88% FRL)

The 10 Beating the Odds middle/junior high schools with the highest overall content growth are:

  • eStem East Village Junior High, eStem Public Charter (67% FRL)
  • Highland Middle, Highland SD (72% FRL)
  • Mansfield Middle, Mansfield SD (75% FRL)
  • Atkins Middle, Atkins SD (69% FRL)
  • DeQueen Middle, DeQueen SD (86% FRL)
  • Lamar Middle, Lamar SD (73% FRL)
  • Mena Middle, Mena SD (89% FRL)
  • Wonder Junior High, West Memphis SD (89% FRL)
  • Hope Academy of Public Service, Hope SD (84% FRL)
  • Lonoke Middle, Lonoke SD (69% FRL)
  • Star City Middle, Star City SD (67% FRL)

The 10 Beating the Odds high schools with the highest overall content growth are:

  • Cave City High Career and College Prep, Cave City SD (76% FRL)
  • Dardanelle High, Dardanelle SD (71% FRL)
  • Booneville High, Booneville SD (67% FRL)
  • Jessieville High, Jessieville SD (66% FRL)
  • Green Forest High, Green Forest SD (78% FRL)
  • Jasper High, Jasper SD (69% FRL)
  • Dollarway High, Pine Bluff SD (90% FRL)
  • North Little Rock Center of Excellence, North Little Rock SD (74% FRL)
  • DeQueen Junior High, De Queen SD (80% FRL)
  • Cedar Ridge High, Cedar Ridge SD (67% FRL)

These schools, and others included in the full report, are growing student’s academic performance more than would be expected. Way to go!

How do OEP awards differ from ADE’s Recognition and Reward Schools?

  1. OEP awards are given by grade span and award for elementary, middle, and high schools, while reward schools are among all schools in the state regardless of grades served.
  2. OEP awards use the purest measure of academic growth (referred to as Combined Content Growth Score) which includes growth for Math and English Language Arts only. Some ADE Rewards are based on achievement, which is highly correlated with poverty, and the growth awards also consider graduation rates (?). Almost all elementary and high school level OEP high growth award winners were Reward schools, but only 20% of high growth middle schools were rewarded by the state program for their high growth.
  3. We give OEP awards for high growth overall as well as for Math and ELA growth individually.
  4. There is no money attached to these awards- just OEP PRIDE!

Congratulations to all our OEP award winners: schools demonstrating Outstanding Educational Performance!

OEP Awards: 2022

This week, OEP is pleased to recognize Arkansas schools demonstrating Outstanding Educational Performance. OEP awards are different than other awards because we focus solely on student academic growth. Unlike other indicators of school performance, academic growth is not very correlated with school demographics. This means it is reflective of what students are learning in school, not what challenges they may face due to out of school factors.

Today’s OEP awards for high growth schools are based on the growth of elementary, middle, and high school students on the ACT Aspire Math and English Language Arts assessments.

Here at OEP, we choose to highlight student academic growth because we believe that it is the best reflection of the impact that a school is having on students’ academic success. 

Highest Overall Growth: Elementary Level

The top elementary school for overall student growth is Genoa Central Elementary from Genoa Central School District, with an overall growth score of 89.87. Genoa Central Elementary also took the top spot for growth in math at 90.76. Green Forest Elementary from Green Forest School District had the highest growth score in ELA at 89.24.

Highest Overall Growth: Middle Level

The top middle school for overall student growth is eStem East Village Junior High, with an overall growth score of 86.05. Vilonia Middle School from Vilonia School District took the top spot for growth in math at 88.07 and Bright Field Middle School from Bentonville School District had the highest growth score in ELA at 85.42.

Highest Overall Growth: High School Level

The top high school for overall student growth is Haas Hall Bentonville, with an overall growth score of 85.70. Haas Hall Bentonville also was in the top spot for math at 87.64. Eureka Springs High School from Eureka Springs School District had the highest growth in ELA at 85.71.


The 20 elementary schools with the highest overall content growth are:

  • Genoa Central Elementary, Genoa Central SD (36% FRL)**
  • S.C. Tucker Elementary, Danville SD (44% FRL)
  • Westside Elementary, Cabot SD (53% FRL)**
  • Stagecoach Elementary, Cabot SD (38% FRL)**
  • Ward Central Elementary, Cabot (53% FRL)*
  • Carolyn Lewis Elementary, Conway SD (42% FRL)**
  • Parkview Elementary, Van Buren SD (50% FRL)*
  • Don Roberts Elementary, Little Rock SD (15% FRL)*
  • Greenbrier Wooster Elementary, Greenbrier SD (41% FRL)***
  • Salem Elementary, Bryant SD (42% FRL)***
  • Green Forest Elementary, Green Forest SD (81% FRL)***
  • Weiner Elementary, Harrisburg SD (67% FRL)**
  • Hunt Elementary, Springdale SD (54% FRL)****
  • Sherwood Elementary, Pulaski Co. Special SD (54% FRL)
  • Cavanaugh Elementary, Fort Smith SD (65% FRL)***
  • Baker Interdistrict Elementary, Pulaski Co. Special SD (15% FRL)
  • Root Elementary, Fayetteville SD (16% FRL)
  • Eastside Elementary, Rogers SD (64% FRL)***
  • Collegeville Elementary, Bryant SD (43% FRL)
  • Cedar Ridge Elementary, Cedar Ridge SD (67% FRL)

The 20 middle/junior high schools with the highest overall content growth are:

  • eStem East Village Junior High, eStem Public Charter (67% FRL)
  • Vilonia Middle, Vilonia SD (39% FRL)*
  • Gravette Middle, Gravette SD (45% FRL)***
  • Bright Field Middle, Bentonville SD (10% FRL)*
  • Washington Junior High, Bentonville SD (23% FRL)**
  • Highland Middle, Highland SD (72% FRL)
  • L.A. Chaffin Middle, Fort Smith SD (52% FRL)**
  • Lincoln Junior High, Bentonville SD (22% FRL)***
  • Valley Springs Middle, Valley Springs SD (30% FRL)***
  • Northridge Middle, Van Buren SD (43% FRL)**
  • eStem Junior High, eStem Public Charter(59% FRL)
  • Pea Ridge Middle, Pea Ridge SD (32% FRL)
  • Mansfield Middle, Mansfield SD (75% FRL)
  • Huntsville Middle, Huntsville SD (59% FRL)*
  • Ruth Doyle Middle, Conway SD (44% FRL)
  • Atkins Middle, Atkins SD (69% FRL)
  • Elkins Middle, Elkins SD (45% FRL)
  • McNair Middle, Fayetteville SD (20% FRL)*
  • Heber Springs Middle, Heber Springs SD (50% FRL)****
  • DeQueen Middle, DeQueen SD (86% FRL)

The 20 high schools with the highest overall content growth are:

  • Haas Hall Bentonville, Haas Hall Academy (5% FRL)****
  • Eureka Springs High, Eureka Springs SD (37% FRL)***
  • Concord High, Concord SD (65% FRL)***
  • Haas Hall Academy at the Lane, Haas Hall Academy (11% FRL)***
  • Bradley High, Emerson-Taylor-Bradley SD (57% FRL)*
  • Cave City High Career and College Prep, Cave City SD (76% FRL)
  • Dardanelle High, Dardanelle SD (71% FRL)*
  • Sylvan Hills Junior High, Pulaski Co. Special SD (38% FRL)
  • Booneville High, Booneville SD (67% FRL)
  • Jessieville High, Jessieville SD (66% FRL)
  • LISA Academy North High, LISA Academy (57% FRL)***
  • Green Forest High, Green Forest SD (78% FRL)
  • Jasper High, Jasper SD (69% FRL)*
  • Dollarway High, Pine Bluff SD (90% FRL)
  • Bald Knob High, Bald Knob SD (53% FRL)
  • Kingston High, Jasper SD (62% FRL)**
  • Creative Action Team School, Hope SD (88% FRL)
  • Haas Hall Academy, Haas Hall Academy (12% FRL)****
  • Marmaduke High, Marmaduke SD (59% FRL)
  • eStem High, eStem Public Charter School (56% FRL)**

*Asterisks indicate how many prior years the school has been in the top 20 for overall growth.

Four of these top 20 schools have been on our list every year since 2017, indicating that students in these schools are persistently demonstrating the highest levels of improvement year after year. Thirty-six have been our top 20 list at least once before.  We celebrate the 25 schools on the list that are newcomers – showing that growth scores can change over time. These schools, and others included in the full report, are growing student’s academic performance more than would be expected. Way to go!

How do OEP awards differ from ADE’s Recognition and Reward Schools?

  1. OEP awards are given by grade span and award for elementary, middle, and high schools, while reward schools are among all schools in the state regardless of grades served.
  2. OEP awards use the purest measure of academic growth (referred to as Combined Content Growth Score) which includes growth for Math and English Language Arts only. Some ADE Rewards are based on achievement, which is highly correlated with poverty, and the growth awards also consider graduation rates (?). Almost all elementary and high school level OEP high growth award winners were Reward schools, but only 20% of high growth middle schools were rewarded by the state program for their high growth.
  3. We give OEP awards for high growth overall as well as for Math and ELA growth individually. 
  4. There is no money attached to these awards- just OEP PRIDE!

Congratulations to all our schools demonstrationing Outstanding Educational Performance.


—————Stay tuned to learn about more OEP Award Winners!————–

On November 30th we will release the list of high growth schools serving high poverty populations, those who are “Beating the Odds!”

2022 Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Growth Arkansas Schools

Volume 19, Issue 8
November 16, 2022

This report is the OEP awards for the 2021-22 academic year, highlighting the schools around the state where students are demonstrating the greatest academic growth based on the 2022 ACT Aspire assessments.

NAEP Nuggets 2022

NAEP results were released today, and the unsurprising takeaway is that Arkansas’ scores declined. The declines generally track with those seen nationally.

The NAEP tests are given to a sample of students in each state in the nation. Students are tested in math and reading in the fourth and eighth grades. Arkansas 3,500 Arkansas public school fourth graders and 3,600 eighth graders in 176 Arkansas had approximately 10% of its fourth and eighth grade students tested in math and reading from January through March 2022 in 176 school buildings across the state.  NAEP is administered nationally to a representative sample of students from all 50 states, so acts as a standard measure of student performance across states and time.

We present NAEP performance since 2003, when administration became consistent. We dug into the new results and are pleased to share 5 NAEP nuggets with you. Note: We will dig deeper into differences in NAEP scores for various student groups on Wednesday.


NAEP Nugget #1: Scores have been declining since 2013

Arkansas’ 2022 NAEP scores were lower, but our scores had been moving downward for the past decade. In fact, as the figure below highlights, Arkansas scores were the highest in 2011 and 2013, and demonstrate declines since.

Figure 1: Arkansas NAEP Scores, 2003-2022

NAEP Nugget #2: Not Keeping Up With the Neighbors in Math

4th and 8th grade Math scores are lower than those of Arkansas’ border states (this group includes Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas).  This is particularly a bummer in 4th grade because we outperformed them from 2005 to 2013, and while the border states’ average scores are rising, Arkansas’ are declining. It’s also a bummer because we seem to be falling farther and farther behind.

Figure 2: 4th grade NAEP Mathematics Scores, Arkansas, Border States, and US, 2003-2022

Figure 3: 8th grade NAEP Mathematics Scores, Arkansas, Border States, and US, 2003-2022

NAEP Nugget #3: In the Same Boat in Reading

4th and 8th grade Reading scores are also lower than those of Arkansas’ border states, but we seem to be tracking the national performance pattern. Again, this is particularly a bummer in 4th grade because we outperformed them from 2003 to 2013.

Figure 4: 4th grade NAEP Reading Scores, Arkansas, Border States, and US, 2003-2022

When it comes to 8th grade reading has been relatively stable over time. Arkansas has been performing similarly in 8th grade reading as our border states and mirroring the changes seen at the national level. In 2022, 8th grade reading scores decreased for Arkansas, our border states, and the nation as a whole.

Figure 5: 8th grade NAEP Reading Scores, Arkansas, Border States, and US, 2003-2022

NAEP Nugget #4: Gaps for Students in Poverty

Prior to 2022, score gaps between Arkansas students eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch (a proxy for economic disadvantage) and their peers who are not eligible continued to widen. The 2022 results, however, reveal more variation. For example, as shown in the figure below, in 4th grade reading scores increased 2 points for more economically advantaged students, and decreased 7 points for students from lower-income households, and therefor the size of the gap increased.

Figure 6: FRL and Non-FRL Eligible Students’ 4th grade NAEP Reading, Arkansas, 2003-2022

In contrast, gaps in 8th grade reading between FRL and Non-FRL students are smaller than they have been since 2003. This decrease in the gap is due to the decline in non-FRL students’ reading scores.

While there was much discussion about how school closures were more damaging to students from less advantaged backgrounds, these results indicate Arkansas’ less advantaged students are performing similarly to prior trends.

Figure 7: FRL and Non-FRL Eligible Students’ 8th grade NAEP Reading, Arkansas, 2003-2022

NAEP Nugget #5: Mixed Messages

Proficiency rates on NAEP math and reading assessments are lower than on ACT Aspire, Arkansas’ assessment used to measure student achievement. ACT Aspires finds 12-14 percent more 4th graders scoring proficient than NAEP. In 8th grade, the discrepancy is 20 percentage points in Math and 22 in reading.

Figure 8: Arkansas NAEP Proficiency vs. ACT Aspire Proficiency, Math and Reading, 4th and 8th grade, 2022

National assessments like NAEP provide a common measuring stick for student performance, which is particularly important as Arkansas is the only state administering ACT Aspire statewide in grades 3-10. We need to pay careful attention to the differences between the NAEP and ACT Aspire proficiency rates. Arkansas will be administering ACT Aspire through 2024 and when we send and receive conflicting messages about how well our students are performing, it can make it difficult to determine how well our students are doing and which sorts of educational interventions are making a difference for our students.

Three measures of Arkansas’ academic achievement (NAEP, ACT Aspire, and ACT) were all essentially flat at the state level for the 3 to 4 years prior to the pandemic. The post-pandemic declines in achievement were substantial, although similar to those seen in other states, and scores have been slow to recover.

During this time the state has consistently increased per pupil funding, invested in literacy training, re-created school accountability systems, moved to universal ACT testing for juniors, refocused teacher and principal evaluation, and much more. Maybe we haven’t allowed enough time to see the results of the changes we have been making in education.  Or maybe those changes aren’t really having an impact at the school level.  Or maybe the changes ARE working, and these measures just aren’t capturing the improvement.

Or maybe we need to step back, and look at school-level academic growth instead of statewide achievement to see something worth cheering about! Stay tuned for the upcoming release of the 2002 OEP awards to see if your school makes the list of schools that are demonstrating success in increasing student learning!

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