Watson Chapel School District board members took a hard look at how students in grades 3-10 performed in multiple subjects during interim testing for the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment last month.
Scores from the interim test, offered by the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, were revealed during Monday’s regular monthly board meeting. The test is given to help teachers and administrators gauge student performance in state education standards for each grade level and to help schools prepare for the regular ATLAS summative test, which will be given in the WCSD on April 9.
For the scores revealed in English language arts, 483 of the 888 WCSD students took the test, or 55%, and scored at Level 1, or demonstrated limited understanding of the subject matter; 316 (36%) scored at Level 2, or showed basic understanding; 79 (9%) showed proficient understanding and 8 (1%) showed advanced understanding.
District students struggled more in mathematics, as 666 of 886 students (75%) scored at Level 1, 176 (20%) in Level 2 and 42 (5%) in Level 3.
In science, 427 of 785 students (54%) scored at Level 1, 289 (37%) in Level 2, 62 (8%) scored at Level 3 and 7 (1%) scored at Level 4. Ninth-graders did not take the interim science test.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Traci Holland, executive director of curriculum and instruction for the WCSD, said when asked what has led to the early struggles that district officials are zeroing in on Tier 1 core instruction, explaining that teachers are focusing on teaching grade-level standards. Holland added it’s important to have the rigor that goes along with Tier 1 instruction and implement high-quality instructional material, or HQIM, with integrity.
“So, rather than teachers just going out and finding any resources that they want to, we want them to start – it doesn’t mean they can’t use any other resources – we want them to start with the district-adopted HQIM,” she said.
Many teachers are working through student-engagement strategies and project-based learning, Holland added.
“Even at the high school where they’re doing unit cycles, we want to make sure we have high levels of student engagement with rigor throughout each one of the unit cycles for all of the standards,” she said. “It’s happening in pockets, but we need it to be systematic.”
Superintendent Keith McGee said publicly if teachers do not expose students to grade-level study, the students will not perform at grade level.
COPPER THEFTS
A high school campus under construction and the junior high campus in the WCSD have been hit by copper thefts, McGee said.
McGee said he and a contractor with Baldwin & Shell Construction Co., which is building the new high school campus scheduled to open in 2026, discovered the thefts before Thanksgiving break. McGee estimated about $3,000 in damage was done due to the copper theft, one of many instances that have stricken neighborhoods and businesses in Pine Bluff in recent years.
“To see that was very disheartening, to have someone who wants to come in and steal copper from our school system,” McGee said. “Once we discovered that, we started to take more preventative measures trying to make sure we can highlight and pinpoint the person who is doing that to our local law enforcement officials.”
McGee said he wasn’t sure what kind of copper exactly was stolen.
GIFTED AND TALENTED
The board allowed the district to offer a contract to a retired licensed gifted-and-talented teacher and coordinator who will serve the remainder of the school district following the resignation of a coordinator last month. The new coordinator will also provide services to students in grades K-5.
“More importantly, we have quite a few kids who need to be identified in that area, so we’re doing a great job with that,” McGee said.
PERSONNEL MOVE
The board accepted the resignation of Cassandra Briggs from the Career and Technical Education department.