Pulaski County Special School District officials presented a districtwide academic update on Dec. 9, highlighting a set of “focus” schools that received D or F labels under Arkansas’s new accountability rubric and outlining the district’s strategy to drive improvement.

Dr. Sonia Whitfield and Dr. Justin Luttrell said the state’s new scoring shifts weight toward growth (alongside achievement and the growth of the lowest-performing cohort), and that the district will use regular data meetings, targeted professional development and increased use of common formative assessments (CFAs) to support improvement at struggling campuses. "We start broad and go down to narrow focus," Luttrell said, describing accountability reports, school improvement plans and three‑week principal check‑ins.

Administrators explained how the state calculates growth (a summative-to-summative “line of best fit”) and noted that while interim tests provide a helpful scale score, CFAs are better for frequent, classroom-level diagnostic information. The district emphasized that CFAs let teachers see what was taught and immediately adjust instruction; Luttrell said those checks can trigger short coaching cycles between interim tests.

Officials walked the board through specific campus situations — Oak Grove, Maumelle Middle and Maumelle High, College Station, Daisy Bates, Mills Middle, Lawson, Sylvan Hills Junior High and others — showing how proximity to the next letter grade differs by school and by category (achievement, overall growth, growth of lowest 25%). The administration reminded the board that some schools obtained state “hold harmless” appeals that can change the public-facing label even when underlying data remain concerning.

Board members pressed administrators on responsibility for state reporting and on how parents will receive simpler, actionable communication; administrators said DESE (the state department) provides correction windows and that the district will share one-page explanations so families can see, for example, how many points a school is away from a higher grade.

The board asked for follow-up reports and a deeper dive on A/B/C campuses in a subsequent meeting. The administration said it will return with expanded school-by-school analysis in January and with continued outreach to parents and principals to ensure pathways for growth are clear.