UA recognizes OMS for its testing improvement

The Osceola School District has reason to celebrate as the middle school was recognized for its high growth in ATLAS testing results.

The middle school, which includes STAR Academy, received notification of the achievement from the University of Arkansas’s Office for Education Policy (OEP). The campus ranked third in growth in the Northeast Region and seventh statewide which includes 233 other middle schools.

The growth results measured the improvement from the 2022-23 school year to the 2023-24 school year. Of the 212 fifth-eighth grade students tested, 84 percent showed growth in their scores in English Language Arts (ELA).

The results were revealed by Dr. Charity Smith of Fetterman and Associates which has partnered with the district as it seeks to improve its overall performance.

“I credit the curriculum,” responded Christel Smith, middle school and STAR Academy principal, when asked what spurred the improvement. Smith, along with Kenya Leaks, current ALE director and former principal, led the turnaround.

“It’s a more viable and rigorous,” Smith continued of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt program, “and it’s the third year we’ve been using it. Now, we’re starting to see the results.”

Smith also pointed to the Professional Learning Community (PLC) as a key to the growth.

The OEP recognized the middle school as “Beating the Odds” for High ELA Growth (Statewide), High Overall Growth (Northeast Region) and High ELA Growth (Northeast Region). The district was awarded banners in honor of the achievement and Smith says, “we’re planning a celebration for the staff and students.”

While the school board applauded that recognition, it also learned that the district’s efforts to reduce the number of non-licensure staff aren’t going quite as planned.

Assistant Superintendent Toshiba Pugh recently surveyed the staff in the licensure program and found that progress is minimal among the 33 teachers. In fact, she found that only four had attended more than four sessions in a tutoring program offered by Arkansas Northeastern College.

“There is a plethora of support available for them to get what they need,” said Pugh who noted that survey participation was even less than 100 percent.

Smith emphasized the district could receive a standards violation for each staff member and the classes they teach if the Arkansas Department of Education so chooses.

To address this issue, the board approved a revision to the standard teacher’s contract. Teachers will no longer accrue years of service on the certified salary schedule until they obtain their license. Once certification is complete, the teacher will be credited with years of teaching experience including time teaching under a waiver.

Currently, the district pays for the licensure program but that too is being abused. Some, upon earning their license, take employment elsewhere after the district has paid $3,000-$5,000 for the program.

Under the new terms of the teacher contract, a teacher who doesn’t complete three years of service will be responsible for reimbursing the district. The dollar amount is prorated after each year of service is completed.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the rehire of all district administrators, certified and classified staff for the next school year.

• Discussed the possibility of not holding a Baccalaureate service this spring. Pugh revealed to the board that high school principal Dettris Poole and her campus coalition favored discontinuing the service. No decision was made, although Pugh said it would need to be done soon to meet the timetable for finalizing graduation activities.

• Awarded a bid to Jonesboro Roofing Company to repair the high school roof. The bid totaled $72,886.

• Approved four makeup days to recover days which were cancelled as a result of inclement weather. The days will be three Mondays in April and one in May.