By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Education says 58 high schools in the state inflated students’ grades during the 2008-09 school year.
A 2005 state law requires the department to release a report identifying high schools that inflated students’ grades. A school is considered to have inflated grades if 20 percent or more of its students made an A or B in Algebra I or geometry but failed to score proficient or advanced on the end-of-course exam for that subject.
This year’s report, released today, is available on the Department of Education Web site.
“One of the main reasons for standardized tests is to make sure that the same level of rigor is being taught in classrooms across the state,” state Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell said in a news release. “It is important for an Algebra I student in Mena to know he is receiving the same quality of instruction as an Algebra I student in Marion.”
Attending a school with grade inflation can affect a student’s ability to obtain an Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship. Starting this year, students who graduate from a school on the grade inflation list who otherwise meet the criteria for an Academic Challenge Scholarship must score a proficient on all end-of-course exams or score a 19 or higher on the ACT or an equivalent test to qualify.
The state Legislature established the new requirement as part of the law setting up the new state lottery, all profits from which will go to the Academic Challenge Scholarship program.
Education Department spokeswoman Julie Thompson said the number of schools with inflated grades was smaller than the previous year’s number, though she did not know by how much. Last year’s report was not released to the public.
“This year, because of the implications for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, we felt it was important to let people know,” Thompson said.
She said the department hopes to hire new personnel to provide technical assistance to schools with inflated grades, if funding is available.
Among traditional high schools, Emmet High School in Nevada County had the second-highest percentage of inflated grades among students who made As and Bs in Algebra I or geometry with 81 percent, behind Turrell High School in Crittenden County with 84 percent.
“I don’t think it’s a very good situation, but we’re working as hard as we can to fix the problem,” Emmet High School Principal Pat Lowe said Tuesday.
Lowe said the school had only one math teacher during the 2008-09 school year, and that teacher is no longer at the school. The school’s students are now taking algebra and geometry via distance learning, she said.
Turrell High Principal Charles Webster was not in his office late Tuesday afternoon and a telephone call to his home went unanswered.
Forty-six schools had no inflated grades, according to the department’s report.
