GENTRY -- Preliminary results of PARCC testing were shared and discussed with the Gentry School Board at its Dec. 14 meeting, with Gentry students, on average, scoring slightly above the state and national PARCC average.
The preliminary scores, along with a redacted summary, are available on the school district's website in the school board Dropbox. The scores showed the district slightly below the state and national PARCC average in English and Language Arts in the lower grades but climbing to above the state and national average in the upper grades. The same was true of students in mathematics, with scores averaging above state and national averages once students were in the upper grades and testing in algebra and geometry.
In the redacted summary, Judy Winslett, assistant superintendent for the Gentry School District, showed how Gentry students scored in comparison with other area districts (other district names were redacted until the final report is released and the district names and scores may be released to the public). Overall, Gentry students were on the upper end of average local PARCC scores, and they in were on top in several classes tested in English and Language Arts. The Gentry students also scored high in Algebra, Algebra II and Geometry.
It was pointed out by Al Lemke, a member of the public, that the scores also indicated that a percentage of Gentry students failed or almost failed to meet PARCC requirements -- as high as 47 percent in third-grade language arts. In material Lemke distributed to the board, he said an average of 29 percent of Gentry students were failing or almost failing to achieve PARCC requirements.
Lemke also said Gentry students have a 34.69 percent college remediation rate. He said comparisons to the state do not say much for Gentry students since Arkansas is currently 39th in the nation on the ACT composite score. He said Gentry School District still has a lot of work to do to make Gentry students competitive with students from across the nation.
Randy Barrett, district superintendent for Gentry Schools, challenged a statement of Lemke that Gentry students were receiving "a mediocre education" but conceded the fact that there is still much more work to be done to improve education at Gentry's schools. He commended the teachers and staff for their hard work to provide a good education to Gentry students.
Arkansas schools are discontinuing use of the PARCC Assessment and will be using ACT Aspire testing to measure student learning in future years.
General News on 12/23/2015