Editorial
Southwest Times Record, Fort Smith, Arkansas
Monday, August 1, 2005
Considering how often the term "education reform" is used and how much money has been thrown at it, it is reassuring to see that the state is moving in the right direction on the education front.
Test scores aren't everything, but when we see them continue to tick up over time, it's not a stretch to think that there are substantive improvements going on in education.
The latest indications of such are the results of end-of-year math tests taken by thousands of Arkansas students. Continuing a trend that has now stretched into a handful of years, almost 25 percent of students were considered advanced in algebra, up from 14 percent a year ago. In geometry, 17 percent of students were advanced, compared to 10 percent last year.
Students are graded and placed in four categories: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. So the "advanced" distinction is going to a sizable group of students. When the "proficient" students are added in, the numbers get quite impressive.
In algebra, 60 percent of students scored proficient or better; in geometry, 55 percent did as well. That's up mightily from 2001 when only 20 percent were proficient or better in algebra, and 19 percent were proficient or better in geometry. There also were big gains last year - 7 percent improvement in algebra and 8 percent in geometry.
"These end-of-course examination results are yet another indicator that we are on the right track with education in Arkansas," said Ken James, education commissioner.
James may not know a quadratic equation from a set of perpendicular lines, but we'd have to agree with him here. That said, there is still work to be done. Racial differences continue to be wide. While 70 percent of whites were proficient or better in algebra, 45 percent of Hispancis and 31 percent of blacks scored that well.
Geometry was no different. Sixty-four percent of whites were proficient or better, while 45 percent of Hispanics and only 23 percent of blacks scored in that range.
Even considering that disparity, it is worth noting that ethnic groups, generally speaking, improved over scores from last year. The state does plan, however to work on that disparity.
"We will keep working to give Arkansas educators proven strategies for reaching and educating those students who are not achieving at grade leve," said Gayle Potter, the Education Department's associate director of academic standards and assessment.
Keep working. Yes, that's what has gotten Arkansas this far, and it's what's going to keep Arkansas improving.
Kudos also to Fort Smith's elementary and junior high faculty for the excellent showing students had on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. In most categories, students in kindergarten through ninth grade scored above the 50th percentile, meaning most of them scored above the natinal average.
Congratulations to the teachers and administrators here and around the state who are making good things happen in the classroom.
