BENTONVILLE -- The School District has been chosen to participate in a national program focused on encouraging students from different ethnic and economic backgrounds to take the most rigorous courses available at their schools.
The Lead Higher Initiative, started by the nonprofit organization Equal Opportunity Schools, is based on research showing academic intensity in high school drives college completion more than any other factor.
Lead Higher
Bentonville School District is part of the second cohort of schools to be chosen for the Lead Higher Initiative. The district was among 120 participants selected for the 2017-18 school year from more than 650 schools considered, according to a district news release.
Source: Staff report
Bentonville, with the program's guidance, would work to put more minorities and economically disadvantaged students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes.
Greater diversity in those classes is one goal, said Matt Saferite, the district's director of secondary instruction.
"Simultaneously and equally important is to increase the number of kids in every one of these subgroups" taking more rigorous courses, Saferite said, referring to a breakdown of students by ethnicity and economic background.
The School Board heard a presentation from administrators on Lead Higher at its meeting Monday and likely will vote next Monday on whether to join the program.
The cost of one year of participation is $54,000, but groups associated with Lead Higher would provide half of that amount, Saferite said.
If the board accepts the arrangement, Equal Opportunity Schools would work with district officials to determine the causes of participation gaps in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, then come up with a strategy for closing those gaps.
In the spring of 2018, the emphasis would be on reaching out to students, "investing in them both as individuals and as groups, targeting them, building them up, supporting them, making them as prepared as they can be to enter AP and IB courses in the fall of 2018," Saferite said.
Once in those classes, students will benefit from plans arranged by Equal Opportunity Schools and the district to ensure their success, Saferite said.
Leandra Cleveland, assessment and data management director, provided data from Bentonville High School's senior class showing on average, the more Advanced Placement classes a student took, the higher that student scored on the ACT college entrance exam.
Superintendent Debbie Jones said district administrators will learn from program staff members so they can continue the program practices in future years.
"It's kind of teaching us to fish, so that then we have a sustainable program," Jones said.
Standards for higher-level courses will not change, Saferite said.
Eric White, a board member, asked how the district would accommodate an influx of students in those Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses.
Saferite said he wouldn't anticipate needing more teachers, but it would mean getting more current teachers prepared to teach those courses.
"Yes, that requires more in certification, more training in the summer," he said. "There's some cost and technical issues there. In my mind, nothing real significant, especially compared to the benefit of what it could provide, getting more teachers trained, them working together more, expanding the opportunities for kids."
Among other matters discussed at Monday's board meeting was the district's plan for collecting proof of residency from students' parents.
"We will need two proofs of residence for all of our current students and incoming students," said Tanya Sharp, director of student services. "We feel this is very important for us to continue to do to make sure we're doing our due diligence and educating our students that live within our boundaries."
Parents must submit proof of residency for the 2017-18 school year by Aug. 31, about three weeks into the year. Proof will be collected at two sites -- Mary Mae Jones and Centerton Gamble elementary schools -- July 10-21 and at each school building starting July 31.
The district also will offer a way for parents to upload their documents to their child's registrar starting July 10.
Until this school year, the district requested proof of residency upon initial enrollment of a child, but didn't ask again unless an address discrepancy somehow came to the district's attention. That changed last summer when the district began requiring parents submit proof of residency annually in order for their children to remain enrolled in one of the schools.
NW News on 03/07/2017