Arkansas looks to change teaching & learning assessment system to better determine student progress

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A new teaching and learning assessment system in Arkansas is in the works as the Department of Education looks to better determine learning progress in the state.

This new assessment called ATLAS replaces the ACT Aspire used in the past, according to ADE spokesperson Kimberly Mundell.

This year’s results are said to set a new baseline for Arkansas students and raise the state’s expectations to be more in line with national standards.

Officials said it tests students on math, science and language arts and received input from more than 200 educators in the process.

The Board of Education held a work session to discuss the new program in a meeting on Wednesday.

ADE Assistant Commissioner Hope Worsham recalled a conversation with a parent whose students had just taken the test this year.

“She asked the students, the one with special needs said, ‘Yeah, I really liked the test. The questions just kept getting easier and easier and I could do them,’” Worsham said. “And then the student who was on the other end of things, who tends to be in accelerated classes and things like that, said, ‘Yeah it just kept getting harder and harder’ and so that for us was affirming, right, that’s what the system is supposed to do.”

The Board of Education will vote on the performance scores and the department will release the state-level results on Thursday.

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