Recently, Arkansas began grading public schools. They are assigned letter grades from A to F and it is becoming apparent that these letter grades hold serious weight for the school’s reputation and ongoing operations.
While an A bolsters the public image of a school, poor letter grades can revoke employee protection laws for faculty and staff.
In addition, high rankings are rewarded with more funding. These “rewards” total almost $7 million. Springdale, the highest recipient, is set to recieve $761,358 for scoring well.
Public schools are not the only ones feeling pressure from the new grading scale. Three charter schools will have to report to the Charter Authorizing Panel in the coming months in regards to their low scores. The charter schools are located in Pine Bluff, North Little Rock, and Blytheville.
The letter grade system was implemented to set accountability standards for Arkansas schools and to push to raise achievement growth among Arkansas students. The grade holds a numerical weight, found by measuring both growth and achievement.
