Local Schools Top Region's Report Cards

RISON - The Cleveland County and Woodlawn School Districts once again led Southeast Arkansas based on their "report card" scores as the schools in both districts finished at or near the top based on data released by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) earlier this month. Rison High and Rison Elementary ranked first among the high schools and elementary schools within the 15 school districts that make up the Southeast Arkansas region. The rankings were based on the school report card scores issued by the ADE on Nov. 9. Meanwhile, the Woodlawn School District saw its high school ranked second in the region and its elementary ranked third in the region. Woodlawn and Cleveland County schools also ranked among the region's best in the percentage of students scoring "proficient" or "exceeding" on the ACT Aspire tests. While the ADE report cards do take achievement test scores into account, the state's report card grading system takes into accounter other factors as well. According to the ADE website, the scores are based on an accountability method established by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. ESSA uses five "indicators" to measure a school's overall performance: achievement, growth, English learner progress toward English language proficiency, graduation rate, and school quality and student success. Rison High School will receive $18,400 award from the Arkansas School Recognition Program after achieving top 6 to 10 percent growth in graduation rate based on the 2022 state and federal accountability reports. The School Recognition Program, which was created by the state legislature in 2017, provides financial awards to public schools that achieve high student performance and academic growth, which includes high school graduation rates, according to the ADE website. Cleveland County Superintendent Craig Dupuy said this was the fifth time in the past six years that the di...