ADE Briefs

Student families will begin receiving their copies of the 2008 Arkansas School Performance Report in the mail this week. For the eighth year, the Arkansas Department of Education, working with Gov. Mike Beebe, is sending the report that is chockful of information from Arkansas Benchmark Exam score averages to average teacher salary “Parents of children [...]

Smart Core will be the required high school curriculum for Garland County’s Lakeside School District students beginning with ninth-graders in the 2009-2010 school year. The district’s school board voted on the matter at its March meeting, with the only exception being made for those students whose course requirements are dictated by individual education plans. Dr. [...]

The Arkansas State Board of Education today removed the Bald Knob School District from fiscal distress designation effective July 1, 2009. The school district was first placed in fiscal distress in April 2007, and the state took over the district by removing both the superintendent and the school board early that fall when it became [...]

The first set of recommendations from the Professional Licensure Standards Board, created by Act 846 of 2007, concerning action on the licenses of six Arkansas educators were approved by the Arkansas State Board of Education today. The state’s first Standards of Conduct for Educators became effective September 1, 2009. Four individuals had their licenses revoked [...]

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan met with state school chiefs in Washington, D.C., last week to emphasize the importance of wisely and effectively spending the $44 billion of stimulus money targeted toward education. To emphasize the importance his message, Duncan was accompanied by a special guest: President Barack Obama. “It was an enormous surprise [...]