Bentonville Schools received high marks on its most recent state report card, with 20 schools earning A’s and four receiving B’s for the 2024-2025 school year.
Before sharing the data at the school board meeting on Tuesday, October 21, Superintendent Debbie Jones said there were additional factors the district considers when assessing the quality of schools.
Among the things she listed were successes in arts and athletics, participation in career training and internships, and relatively high AP and ACT test scores — none of which are factored into the state rankings.
“When looking at the health of the district, the entire picture, it’s really important to consider all of these things,” Jones said.
Bentonville Schools’ rankings indicate higher academic performance than much of the rest of the state.
However, it’s difficult to compare the latest results to past rankings because of changes in how the state evaluates schools. The formulas used for the most recent rankings are new, made in the context of new standardized tests and the broader remaking of education under the LEARNS Act.
A previous letter-grade system was used through the 2022-2023 school year, and official rankings were skipped in 2023-2024.
In the last year of the old system, 13 schools in the district received an A, seven received a B, and four received a C.
Under the new ranking system, more schools across the state are earning A’s and B’s, fewer are receiving C’s and D’s, and there’s been a sharp increase in the number of F’s:
Letter grade breakdown for all schools in state | ||
|---|---|---|
A | 12% | 8% |
B | 28% | 21% |
C | 34% | 43% |
D | 13% | 26% |
F | 13% | 2% |
These factors are all part of the new ranking system:
The number of students in each school achieving proficiency on standardized tests
Year-over-year growth in the test scores of individual students
Growth among the lowest 25% of students
For high schools only: graduation rates
With individual student growth part of the equation, even schools with high overall standardized test scores can’t rest on their laurels.
“So if you have an overall, generally high-performing school, your lowest 25 could potentially be pretty high too,” school board member Tatum Aicklen noted.
“And we do have that. Your lowest 25% could be scoring in the dream range. I can’t stress enough how important it is to continue to follow both performance and growth,” Jones responded.
Later in the meeting, the school board met in executive session to evaluate Jones’ performance and unanimously approved adding another year to her contract, extending it until 2029.
Detailed data for individual schools can be found by selecting a school on the district homepage at bentonvillek12.org, opening the school’s website, and looking for the “Annual Report” link under the About tab.
