The Walton Family Foundation and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation have selected a consulting firm to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at providing a better education to students at Arkansas public schools including those in academic distress.
Members of the foundations spoke to the Arkansas Board of Education on Friday, Nov. 14, about the Forward initiative and selected the Boston Consulting Group to prepare a strategic plan for helping students. The Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm and an adviser on business strategy, according to its website.
The Arkansas Department of Education considers a school in academic distress if fewer than 49.5 percent of its students achieve proficient or advanced in math and literacy on the state-mandated criterion referenced assessments administered for the most recent three-year period.
Walton Family Foundation spokesman Kevin Thornton said the Boston Consulting Group will compile a report called the State of Education in Arkansas measuring baseline data on Arkansas students. He said the report should be completed by spring 2015 and will be updated annually to measure how schools are doing.
“We wanted to partner to help all schools improve,” Thornton said. “We had an opportunity to provide strategic thinking to accomplish that goal. We will look at specific and strategic action steps.”
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The recipient schools have not been identified yet.
Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Vice President Cory Anderson said the partnership consists of three phases: developing the report, engaging stakeholders for the planning process and producing the plan.
“We recognize that schools operate in different contexts and economies,” Anderson said. “I do not think we will have a one-size-fits-all plan.
“The goal of the Forward partnership is to create a comprehensive plan for kindergarten through college,” Anderson said. “It is in response to the idea that we all want a school where every student graduates from college or enters the workforce.”
The philanthropic foundations will involve parents, teachers, students and community members, asking for input, Anderson said.
“We are not starting with any preconceived notions,” Anderson said.
Representatives of the foundations will return to the Arkansas Department of Education in December and recommend people for a steering committee.
“No matter where you are in Arkansas, no matter your income, you have an opportunity to attend a school that prepares you to be a productive contributor to the community,” Anderson said. “We want to even out the opportunity and be systematic about it.”
Southeastern Arkansas schools in academic distress include Dollarway High School, Pine Bluff Belair Middle School, Pine Bluff Oak Park Elementary School, Pine Bluff High School, Watson Chapel High School and Fordyce High School.