Pine Bluff district reports mixed test gains, narrows math curriculum choices and sees majority support for early-start calendar

Superintendent Barb told the Pine Bluff School District board that recent district common formative assessment (DCFA) results show growth across most grades but identified a specific weakness in third-grade performance on informational-reading items, and she said the district survey shows a majority favor the early-start calendar.

The superintendent said the tax-collection timing affected the financial report but opened the academic update by noting required monthly academic reporting. "This data it seems to show the story of our most good business," Miss Ross said while presenting the DCFA results. Ross said the district administered two DCFAs this year in literacy and math and that results show year-over-year growth in many grades but a decline when the current third graders were tested on informational text, an area the…