LRSD's 'Flat Scores': The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

LRSD’s ‘Flat Scores’: The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

January 29, 2019

The following is an analysis of the NWEA MAP growth/decline in Reading from Fall to Winter in the Little Rock School District’s K through 8 schools. Growth percentiles are nationally normed against all students taking NWEA MAP. The formative test is given three times a year to formulate individual student learning plans, make necessary adjustments, and track success.

None of these data were referenced during the December 20, 2018 meeting of the State Board of Education, where the superintendent, under oath, reported “basically flat” ACT Aspire and ACT results.

They weren’t.

For proof, let’s go to the video tape. 1:59:38 to be exact:

Michael Poore: “As you look at this data, though, I do want you to think about, that basically, it’s pretty easy to see flat results.

FACT: The Little Rock School District declined in all areas of the ACT Aspire (Grades 3-10) and in two of five areas of the ACT (Grade 11).”

ACT Aspire Math: -1.42 points (-3.8%)
ACT Aspire English: -0.4 points (-0.7%)
ACT Aspire Reading: -0.51 points (-1.6%)
ACT Aspire Science: -0.72 points (-2.4%)
ACT All 4 Subjects: +0.8 points (+0.6%)
ACT Math: -0.1 points (-0.6%)
ACT English: -0.1 points (-0.6%)
ACT Reading: +0.4 points (+2.2%)
ACT Science: 0 points (0%)

FACT: In 160 opportunities (40 schools, 4 categories) on ACT Aspire (Grades 3-10), LRSD schools:

Improved (48)
Declined (93)
Stayed Same (19)

In 25 opportunities (5 schools, 5 categories) on ACT (Grade 11), LRSD schools:

Improved (12)
Declined (12)
Stayed Same (1)

Source: http://www.officeforeducationpolicy.org/arkansas-schools-data-recognition-data-and-letter-grades

At the last meeting of the LRSD Community Advisory Board (January 25, 2019), the superintendent was quoted in the next day’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

Michael Poore: “Being upfront and honest, you see flat results right now in fall to winter.”

They weren’t.

Flat results, though untrue, in regard to performance is bad enough. Flat results, though also untrue, in regard to growth is a gross dereliction of duty.

Not knowing or not telling the “truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” is grounds for dismissal.

What follows measures individual student growth (Winter) over their previous scores (Fall).

NWEA MAP Growth in Reading (28 K-5 Schools) – Fall to Winter

Kindergarten (District – 32nd Percentile)

1st Percentile – 7 Schools
2nd Percentile – 4 Schools
7th Percentile – 2 Schools
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 16 Schools (57% of K-5 Schools)
Outlier: Dodd – 79th Percentile

1st Grade (District – 6th Percentile)

1st Percentile – 11 Schools
2nd Percentile – 4 Schools
3rd Percentile – 1 School
6th Percentile – 1 School
7th Percentile – 1 School
9th Percentile – 1 School
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 21 Schools (75% of K-5 Schools)
Outlier: Roberts – 70th Percentile

2nd Grade (District – 6th Percentile)

1st Percentile – 9 Schools
2nd Percentile – 2 Schools
3rd Percentile – 1 School
4th Percentile – 2 Schools
5th Percentile – 1 School
8th Percentile – 1 School
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 20 Schools (71% of K-5 Schools)
Outliers: Gibbs – 97th Percentile, Rockefeller – 90th Percentile

3rd Grade (District – 2nd Percentile)

1st Percentile – 16 Schools
7th Percentile – 2 Schools
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 21 Schools (75% of K-5 Schools)
Outlier: Wakefield – 95th Percentile

4th Grade (District – 2nd Percentile)

1st Percentile – 15 Schools
3rd Percentile – 1 School
9th Percentile – 1 School
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 20 Schools (71% of K-5 Schools)
Outliers: Bale – 82nd Percentile, Brady – 90th Percentile, Dodd – 82nd Percentile, Otter Creek – 97th Percentile, Rockefeller – 99th Percentile

5th Grade (District – 5th Percentile)

1st Percentile – 11 Schools
2nd Percentile – 1 School
3rd Percentile – 1 School
9th Percentile – 2 Schools
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 17 Schools (61% of K-5 Schools)
Outliers: Bale – 99th Percentile, Chicot – 99th Percentile, Wakefield – 92nd Percentile

NWEA MAP Growth in Reading (8 6-8 Schools) – Fall to Winter

6th Grade (District – 16th Percentile)

1st Percentile – 2 Schools
2nd Percentile – 1 School
5th Percentile – 1 School
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 5 Schools (62.5% of 6-8 Schools)
Outliers: Cloverdale – 99th Percentile, Dunbar – 89th Percentile

7th Grade (District – 27th Percentile)

1st Percentile – 2 Schools
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 3 Schools (37.5% of 6-8 Schools)
Outliers: Dunbar – 99th Percentile, Henderson – 99th Percentile

8th Grade (District – 12th Percentile)

1st Percentile – 2 Schools
2nd Percentile – 1 School
3rd Percentile – 1 School
20th and Below (Considered Low) – 5 Schools (62.5% of 6-8 Schools)
Outliers: Forest Heights STEM – 89th Percentile, Henderson – 99th Percentile

Highest Reading Growth Schools of District

K – Jefferson – Forest Heights STEM, Forest Park, Jefferson, Pulaski Heights – 99th Percentile
1st Grade – Roberts – 70th Percentile
2nd Grade – Gibbs – 97th Percentile
3rd Grade – Wakefield – 95th Percentile
4th Grade – Rockefeller – 99th Percentile
5th Grade – Bale, Chicot – 99th Percentile
6th Grade – Cloverdale – 99th Percentile
7th Grade – Henderson – 99th Percentile
8th Grade – Henderson – 99th Percentile

Lowest Reading Growth/Highest Declining Schools of District

K – Rockefeller +3 Points
1st Grade – Rockefeller +3.5 Points
2nd Grade – King, Meadowcliff +2.6 Points
3rd Grade – Western Hills +1.5 Points
4th Grade – Booker -0.5 Points
5th Grade – Booker -1.6 Points, Mabelvale -1.2 Points, McDermott -0.5 Points, Meadowcliff -1.4 Points, -0.9 Romine,
6th Grade – Pulaski Heights -0.2 Points
7th Grade – Cloverdale -2.1 Points, Pulaski Heights -0.7 Points
8th Grade – Cloverdale -0.5 Points, Mabelvale -0.7 Points, Pinnacle View -0.6 Points, Pulaski Heights -1.9 Points

Summary of Reading Growth

Of 28 K-5 schools in the district, 57% to 75% of schools (varying by grade) achieved low growth (20th percentile or below)
Of eight 6-8 schools in the district, 37.5% to 62.5% of schools (varying by grade) achieved low growth (20th percentile or below)
Of 28 K-5 schools in the district, 46% to 68% of schools (varying by grade) were in a single digit percentile in regard to growth
Of eight 6-8 schools in the district, 25% to 50% of schools (varying by grade) were in a single digit percentile in regard to growth
Eight schools actually had one or more grades that declined: Booker (4th, 5th), Mabelvale (5th), McDermott (5th), Meadowcliff (5th), Romine (5th), Pulaski Heights (6th, 7th, 8th), Cloverdale (7th, 8th), Mabelvale (8th), Pinnacle View (8th)
Source: Little Rock Schoo District, NWEA MAP, Reading, Fall 2018 to Winter 2018

Act 930 of the 91st General Assembly states:

“(c) (1) If the public school district has not demonstrated to the state board and the Department of Education that the public school district meets the criteria to exit Level 5 – Intensive support within five (5) years of the assumption of authority, the state board shall annex, consolidate, or reconstitute the public school district under § 6-13-1401 et seq. and this subchapter.”

By any measure, the Little Rock School District is performing worse academically than when the State intervened four years ago. Those longtime resistors of the State’s leadership crying loudest for local control had better light a fire under the current leadership, or – under current law – the Little Rock School District as we’ve known it will cease to exist.

Epilogue

NWEA MAP measures two areas of growth – Reading and Math. While Reading is the greatest indicator of overall student growth, performance, here are the district’s Math results.

NWEA MAP Growth in Math (28 K-5 Schools) – Fall to Winter

Kindergarten (District – 40th Percentile)