Arkansas is one of ten states to be awarded a National Governor’s Association/Gates Foundation High School Redesign Grant. The four goals of the grant included:
I. developing college ready/workplace ready skills in mathematics and English/Language Arts;
II. expanding and/or developing the end-of-course tests and/or augment those tests to assess those standards;
III. expanding and implementing the longitudinal data tracking system; and
IV. developing an effective communications system that links the partnerships that must occur and assure “buy-in” from those partners.
Alignment team members representing the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE), and the Arkansas business community worked with Achieve. Inc., and national content experts to examine the American Diploma Project and other research representing the business community’s and post-secondary education’s expectations for high school students. Content team members representing Arkansas high schools and Arkansas two/four year institutions of higher education worked to align the existing grades 9-12 Arkansas English/Language Arts and course specific Mathematics Frameworks to the American Diploma Project. Shareholder meetings were convened across the state to share and seek information about high school redesign.
The Arkansas State Board has approved implementation of the amended frameworks for the 2007-2008 school year. ADE will conduct a variety of professional development activities to support implementation of the amended frameworks. The assessments for the 2006-2007 school year will not be affected by the amendments to the attached frameworks.