ADE Briefs

Dr. Gary Compton, superintendent of Bentonville School District, and Robert Maranto, who is with the University of Arkansas Department of Educational Reform, put forth some suggestions for Dr. Tom Kimbrell and the Department of Education to consider in 2010 in yesterday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Perspective section. Specifically, they addressed the need for a stronger teaching pool, [...]

Today is the last day for the Arkansas Department of Education to receive suggestions for the state’s Race to the Top application. The application, due to the federal government on January 19, is part of a competitive grant process under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act potentially worth several hundred million dollars to develop and [...]

Congrats to the 281 Arkansas teachers who just received National Board Certification. This is a great achievement and a sign of true dedication to professional excellence. To read more about it and to see the list, link here. Posted by JJT.

Allied Wireless Communications Corporation (AWCC), which is a subsiduary of Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc., will locate its new corporate headquarters in Little Rock, Gov. Mike Beebe announced today during a press conference at the Capitol. The $200 million investment will mean 200 to 250 high-paying jobs for the the city. Allied was attracted to Little Rock [...]

The Arkansas State Board of Education approved the Arkansas Department of Education’s recommendation for dealing with accreditation issues at the following schools: Fordyce High School was identified as accredited-probationary in May of 2008 and May of 2009. Fordyce High School had three (3) teachers who were denied waivers to teach out-of-area during the 2008-2009 school [...]

The Arkansas State Board of Education today placed three school districts into fiscal distress classification due to declining balances: Forrest City, Wickes and Yellville-Summit. None of the districts appealed the Arkansas Department of Education’s recommendation to classify the school districts as being in fiscal distress. Posted by JJT.

Rules governing access to public school information, governing the calculation of miscellaneous funds and governing appeals involvig student residency disputes between school districts were approved by the State Board as presented them. Please see Action Items 9, 10 and 11 on the meeting agenda for the complete rules or rule revisions. Posted by JJT.

The Arkansas State Board of Education today approved a passing scale score for Algebra I of 159 in the ACTAAP rules for high stakes testing. Act 1307 of 2009 requires that beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, all students in Grade 9 or below who are enrolled in Algebra I must complete and meet the [...]

A resolution recognizing 38 Arkansas high schools identified by the Arkansas ACT Council Initiative that have earned the College Readiness Award for 2009 by increasing the ACT Composite Score by a full point or more while at the same time increasing local participation was passed by the Arkansas State Board of Education today. Posted by [...]

The Arkansas State Board of Education gave the Cabot School District the okay to move its conversion charter school — Cabot Academic Center of Excellence — to a larger building on Funtastic Drive in Cabot. The school presently has 166 students and with the new facility will be able to educate up to 500. Posted [...]