Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree cautioned not to read too much into the ATLAS (Arkansas Teaching, Learning & Assessment System) numbers that were recently released. The reason is that the results will be used as a new benchmark and shouldn’t be used in a comparison to other test outcomes.
At one point, she said nearly half of the students scoring in levels 2-4 — ranging from basic to advanced understanding — was a positive. We’ll trust her on that.
It’s hard, however, not to do some quick comparisons and not see much of anything that would call for such a happy adjective given that Pine Bluff’s results are so far below state averages.
For English, math, science, reading and biology, the percent of students in the state testing at or above grade level was in the mid 30% range. In algebra, the number was 26.9% and for geometry, about 18%.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Pine Bluff’s numbers hovered around 8%-11% for all but algebra and geometry, where 3.6% and 0.35% (yes, less than 1%), respectively, were at or above grade level.
And, again, Pine Bluff’s numbers are being compared to statewide averages, and we all know where Arkansas generally ranks across the nation in pretty much anything one cares to rank. Nuff said, there.
Watson Chapel’s numbers were a bit better, ranging from 0.74% in geometry and 4.5% in algebra to somewhere between about 12% and more than 16% for the other subjects.
White Hall students, on the other hand, put up some decent numbers, ranging from 10% in geometry and 13% for algebra to 28% in biology and the low to mid 30% range for the other subjects, getting close to or beating the state averages in a few spots.
Friendship Academy, the charter school, did better than Watson Chapel but not as well as White Hall in most areas.
While White Hall has a little work to do in a few areas, the Pine Bluff public and charter schools have a great deal more they need to accomplish, particularly when it comes to numbers, algebra and geometry in particular, where it seems almost no student is at grade level.
If this is a new benchmark, it is a low one, one that would scare away a prospective parent looking to move to the city and put their child in school.
The Pine Bluff and Watson Chapel districts are both well on their way to building new facilities. Those new buildings won’t amount to much if there’s not any learning going on inside.