Rogers Board Hears Plans For School Year

ROGERS -- Administrators previewed ideas for the school year during the Rogers School Board meeting Tuesday night.

The education landscape is changing, Mark Sparks, deputy superintendent told the board. Parents have options in charter schools and online schools and the district is looking at adding variety to the ways it meets student needs, Sparks said.

On the Web

Read more about Rogers Public Schools at www.rogersschools.n….

A scheduling change rolled out this fall at Crossroads, an alternative learning program, upped the program from 60 to 75 students and brought in more electives, said Robert Moore, assistant superintendent for secondary curriculum and instruction. Orientation isn't just for high school freshmen, but for sixth-graders at all four middle schools, he said.

Rogers School District had 14,753 children on the first day of school.

Elementary schools had 7,095 students, said Virginia Abernathy, assistant superintendent of elementary curriculum and instruction

District staff are researching an in-house digital learning system that could be used both by homebound students or for students recovering credits. They are taking a new look at science classes.

Sparks touted an early warning system under in-house development. The program will flag children, possibly those in first or third grades, at risk for not graduating on time, Sparks told the board.

Staff are testing the computer process to make sure it doesn't identify too many children, he said. The system will look at educational problems, but also community or personal issues based list of about 25 risk characteristics.

An educational flag could be a child two grades below his recommended reading level or has been held back a grade level. That same child may struggle with poverty, Sparks said. If a child has eight or nine symptoms out of the list he may be flagged for intervention.

"That child deserves a look," Sparks said.

There are teams of teachers already working with struggling students and trying to figure out the best way to help them succeed, said Janie Darr, superintendent.

Teachers will also be be looking more at student scores this year to make sure gifted and talented children excel, Sparks said.

Administrators also reviewed district test scores with board members. Some scores fell and some rose incrementally.

Elementary math and literacy scores were higher in the state and the region in all grade levels, Abernathy said.

There are four score categories in state testing: advanced, proficient, basic and below basic.

The bulk of Rogers elementary students scored advanced in math and literacy, Abernathy said.

Fifth grade sciences scores were lower than the region and fell nine points from last year. Sixty percent of students were proficient or advanced in fifth grade science, the only elementary grade tested under state rules.

The changes aren't of statistical importance, Abernathy said.

"Not that we like to see those scores go down," she said.

Seventh and eight grade scores were up in math and literacy, Moore said. Algebra scores rose and 90 percent of eighth-graders tested proficient or advanced in literacy this spring.

Biology scores were better than the state, but not as good as last year.

"We believe our students can perform better than this in science," he told the board.

Both administrators said after the meeting that schools will be developing a science, technology, engineering and mathematics focus this year.

New science standards have been under development, Abernathy said, so schools focused on building programs around new math and literacy standards.

Arkansas adopted the Next Generation Science Standards earlier this year, settling on a 2016 rollout for grades kindergarten through fourth grade.

Results from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills showed Rogers students scored above state averages.

NW News on 08/20/2014

Upcoming Events