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Education in Arkansas


Mith242

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I thought I had started a topic like this but I couldn't find it. Anyway when you adjust for the cost of living Arkansas now ranks higher for teachers salaries than our neighboring states and the rest of the south. As I said you have to add in the cost of living to get that but still it's certainly nice to see. Hopefully Arkansas can keep this up.

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I thought I had started a topic like this but I couldn't find it. Anyway when you adjust for the cost of living Arkansas now ranks higher for teachers salaries than our neighboring states and the rest of the south. As I said you have to add in the cost of living to get that but still it's certainly nice to see. Hopefully Arkansas can keep this up.

I think in parts of NWA, starting salaries for teachers are around $40,000, not sure about other areas of the state.

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I think in parts of NWA, starting salaries for teachers are around $40,000, not sure about other areas of the state.

Yeah I'm guessing some area of the state is better than others. Then again some areas of the state's very low cost of living probably helps bring down the Arkansas average as well and makes this stat happen.

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Yeah I'm guessing some area of the state is better than others. Then again some areas of the state's very low cost of living probably helps bring down the Arkansas average as well and makes this stat happen.

I thought the article said a few small rural areas start around $30k and Springdale is the top at $40k. Most of the NWA and Central Arkansas schools are nearer the $40k figure.

Remember, though, that with cost of living factored in the rural areas paying less actually probably win out by the criteria they used for comparison.

This study will be a great tool to use to encourage teachers to look at Arkansas schools.

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I thought the article said a few small rural areas start around $30k and Springdale is the top at $40k. Most of the NWA and Central Arkansas schools are nearer the $40k figure.

Remember, though, that with cost of living factored in the rural areas paying less actually probably win out by the criteria they used for comparison.

This study will be a great tool to use to encourage teachers to look at Arkansas schools.

Yeah even more reason to try to get more teachers from neighboring states over into Arkansas. In NWA with so much growth happening and so many new schools opening up every year, we could really use more teachers.

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Anybody have an opinion on the Paron case?

For those of you that missed it. it's been a big deal in Central Arkansas.

The high school/junior high with a combined 125 students was absorbed into the Bryant school district a few years ago after districts smaller than 350 were mandated to by state law. Bryant opted to shut it down this year because it was disproportionately expensive to run and offered too few classes to meet the state's minimum requirement. Paron is in northern Saline County near Perry and Pulaski Cos. It's fairly isolated but only 30 min from LR and most of the residents are apparently commuters. It's residents aren't particularly impoverished or uneducated, just isolated by choice.

Ron Crawford, who is locally famous for running AAU programs where tons of talented players including future NBAers Joe Johnson, Quincy Lewis, etc played, has a grandson or nephew or something in the district and spearheaded a lawsuit to keep it open. A judge temporarily issued an order to keep it open but later decided to close the case (and therefore the school). Most students opted for Perry Co schools like Perryville or to go to Pulaski Robinson, which is only 15 min away and closer than Bryant HS.

Asa Hutchinson publicly sided with Paron on the matter.

This is going to continue to be a HOT issue. There are large number of very small schools that are grossly underpeforming and are much more expensive to run but local communities don't want shut down because the school is a big part of the town's identity.

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If it's cheaper to have it obsorbed into Bryant High/Jr. High, than I agree that it should be shut down. I know it's hard to see small school districts close, but the funds can be used better. There's school districts all throughout the state that are in dire need of improvements.

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If it's cheaper to have it obsorbed into Bryant High/Jr. High, than I agree that it should be shut down. I know it's hard to see small school districts close, but the funds can be used better. There's school districts all throughout the state that are in dire need of improvements.

In addition, Bryant is a very good school district, roughly equivalent to Springdale or Rogers. If I had kids there I would be thrilled about the merger for that reason.

It was funny most of the kids opted to go to Perryville (another mediocre rural school) over Pulaski Robinson (a solid larger school), though some did go to Robinson, instead of Bryant which is clearly the better school.

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In addition, Bryant is a very good school district, roughly equivalent to Springdale or Rogers. If I had kids there I would be thrilled about the merger for that reason.

It was funny most of the kids opted to go to Perryville (another mediocre rural school) over Pulaski Robinson (a solid larger school), though some did go to Robinson, instead of Bryant which is clearly the better school.

I guess some people just prefer a rural school, which is cool. But when that school has hardly any students, and when state mandated requirements aren't followed, proper action is needed.

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I guess some people just prefer a rural school, which is cool. But when that school has hardly any students, and when state mandated requirements aren't followed, proper action is needed.

Perhaps.

The whole area is near enough to West LR that someday it will be developed. That's the ironic thing about all of this. In 10-15 years Paron along with Eastern Perry Co will start to see large subdivisions going up.

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Anyone see where this years ACT scores came out? Arkansas improved, but is still behind the national average by about half-a-point.

I can't find the article, I apologize, but this is encouraging. A half-point is nothing on the ACT, and could easily be caught up to in a short amount of time. Arkansas' scores improved at a faster rate than the national average, so if this improves it will only be a matter of time before Arkansas is right there, if not ahead. Also, the average has now moved to where the average student in Arkansas requires no remedial courses.

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Anyone see where this years ACT scores came out? Arkansas improved, but is still behind the national average by about half-a-point.

I can't find the article, I apologize, but this is encouraging. A half-point is nothing on the ACT, and could easily be caught up to in a short amount of time. Arkansas' scores improved at a faster rate than the national average, so if this improves it will only be a matter of time before Arkansas is right there, if not ahead. Also, the average has now moved to where the average student in Arkansas requires no remedial courses.

That's great to hear. Nice to see Arkansas improving like this. Now if we can just try to get it actually above the national average. :D

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Anyone see where this years ACT scores came out? Arkansas improved, but is still behind the national average by about half-a-point.

I can't find the article, I apologize, but this is encouraging. A half-point is nothing on the ACT, and could easily be caught up to in a short amount of time. Arkansas' scores improved at a faster rate than the national average, so if this improves it will only be a matter of time before Arkansas is right there, if not ahead. Also, the average has now moved to where the average student in Arkansas requires no remedial courses.

I missed that. SAT scores are up and Arkansas actually is well above average on those but of course the SAT is more of a test for Arkansas grads planning on traveling out of state to a select university or college. That's encouraging news about ACT scores. I think we're starting to see progress in turning around education in Arkansas. In twenty years I think we'll be above average in almost every category.

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I missed that. SAT scores are up and Arkansas actually is well above average on those but of course the SAT is more of a test for Arkansas grads planning on traveling out of state to a select university or college. That's encouraging news about ACT scores. I think we're starting to see progress in turning around education in Arkansas. In twenty years I think we'll be above average in almost every category.

Don't take the increase in SAT scores as a mark that education is improving in the state. Less than 1500 students took the test and this is down almost 7% from last year. The ADE is also claiming the increase in AP courses as a sign of improving education. In order to get college credit a student must score 3,4 or 5's. Some universities no longer accept a 3. I believe less than 30% of students taking AP courses score high enough to gain college credit. A note sent home with my son this year stated the following for 11th grade English: Non-AP English students will study American Literature and those taking AP English will spend the year studying for the test at the end of the year. Arkansas does not have twenty years. It has until 2014 to see that all students can do work equal to their grade level. Will Arkansas dumb down it's test to achieve it's goals the way it was done in the past?

As for remediation in math, 48% of students in Arkansas will need remediation. The ACT remediation score is 19. The composite score for black students was 16.9 while the national average was 18.1. As for the composite scores for all students it stands at 20.6 up from 20.3 last year which was down from the year before. Will the scores be up or down next year?

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