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Week 3: Focusing on Growth
Happy Friday!
As we close out another week, I want to thank each of you for the energy, creativity, and commitment you bring to our schools. Whether you are teaching in the classroom, supporting students in their daily needs, maintaining our facilities, or ensuring operations run smoothly, your work matters. Together, you create the environment where students can thrive, and that collective effort is what drives us toward meeting our district performance targets.
This week’s Wrap-up will focus on one of the most important measures of our progress: student growth. The ATLAS scores we received reflect not only how our students performed at a single point in time, but also how much they advanced over the course of the year. These results give us insight into what is working, where progress is being made, and where we need to focus our energy moving forward as we continue working toward our goals.
Growth Results
At the state level, Arkansas saw modest but steady gains in year two of ATLAS for students achieving proficiency. ELA scores improved by +0.8%, math by +2.7%, and science by +2.4%. Along with achievement, across the state, growth is becoming the story, as schools and communities adjust to a new system and find ways to rise.
It is important to remember the difference between achievement and growth as measured by ATLAS. Achievement reflects a student’s performance on grade-level standards at a single point in time, showing whether they reached mastery on the test. Growth, on the other hand, measures how much progress a student made compared to where they started, regardless of whether they reached proficiency. Achievement tells us where students are, but growth tells us how far they have come, and growth is the focus of this Wrap-up.
Here in Mena, our results show a similar story, but with our own points of pride and challenge:
* ELA: Our chart shows that Mena has climbed steadily from 2023 to 2025, moving from negative growth into positive territory. The state line remained flat during that time, which means our students are beginning to separate from the state average in a positive direction. This is encouraging evidence that our focus on literacy is taking root.
* Math: This chart reflects the most striking difference. While the state line has remained nearly flat, our district’s line has risen sharply each year. By 2025, our students will have more than doubled the state’s gains, showing clear evidence that persistence, strong instruction, and readiness to be challenged are paying off. This is a progress point that we can take pride in and must continue to build upon.
* Science: Our chart reveals a peak in 2024 followed by a drop in 2025. Even though we remain above the state average, this downward trend is a concern. It tells us that students are capable of growth in science, but consistency will require more deliberate strategies and sustained support.
Our goal must always be that 100% of our students can master grade-level work, and these results remind us that there is still much to do, but we are heading in the right direction overall.
What Our Teachers Are Saying
At the heart of this data are classrooms. We spoke with some of our teachers whose students showed the highest growth, and a common theme stood out: students are doing the work. These teachers emphasized that the key was keeping the effort where it belongs—on the students. The students are working harder than the teachers. Teachers are then using that work to check for understanding, uncover misconceptions, and directly address deficiencies, while keeping expectations high.
This is a powerf
Published on 1 week ago