WESTSIDE -- Do high marks in school necessarily mean a student is achieving? That may depend on whether grades are inflated or if they accurately reflect a student's proficiency in required subjects.
In a document shared last week with the Gentry School Board, Arkansas school districts were graded on their grading, with some school districts listed as giving out higher grades than deserved.
The 17-page document compares the numbers and percentages of students getting grades of A or B in algebra and geometry whose test scores revealed a lack of expected proficiency in those subjects at the high school level.
Among schools listed as inflating grades was Decatur High School, with a 50 percent inflation rate. However, the report indicates that out of 54 students tested in algebra and geometry in the 2013-2014 school year, 37 students were proficient but only two students received a grade of A or B, with one being listed as proficient and one not proficient, thus giving the district a high grade inflation rate based on the test performance of two students.
For Gentry, the grade inflation was only 2.4 percent. Out of 230 students tested in algebra and geometry last year, 195 were counted as proficient. Of students tested, 123 received a grade of A or B and only three of those scored as not proficient.
For Gravette, the grade inflation was 0 percent. Of 212 students tested, 180 were scored as proficient. Of those 180 students, 81 received a grade of A or B and none of those scored less than proficient.
Siloam Springs was listed with 1.9 percent grade inflation. Out of 675 students tested, 584 were scored proficient. Of the 584, only 312 were given an A or B grade and six of those scored less than proficient.
General News on 01/28/2015