Superintendent reviews ATLAS rollout, parent portal and plans to reduce testing after first-year issues
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Summary
Superintendent Debbie Jones reviewed the district’s annual report, described the state’s new ATLAS assessment rollout and told the board the district will work to slim the testing calendar after technical problems and overlapping interim tests.
Debbie Jones, superintendent, presented the district’s annual report to the board on Dec. 17 and reviewed the state’s transition from the ACT Aspire system to ATLAS, the new statewide assessment platform.
Jones said the district received ATLAS summative scores in October and that the state is still setting cut scores and adjusting the system. "The state established really strong academic standards... our professional learning communities are really critical as teachers are learning a new curriculum," Jones said. She added that the ATLAS end-of-course assessments are intended to align more closely with classroom standards than the previous system.
Jones told the board that parents can view student results and resources through the ATLAS parent portal; the portal includes recommended "next steps" such as practice activities and tutorials. She urged parents to use the portal and said the district will post profile and school-level reports on school websites.
District staff acknowledged testing volume as a concern. Jones said the district currently administers MAP three times per year plus ATLAS interims and a summative, and that committees of teachers have been named to compare the assessments’ strengths. "We are preparing to move away from one of these interims... we will greatly slim that assessment calendar for next year," she told the board.
Jones also reported the district is working with the Arkansas Department of Education about comparability with other states and that technical issues with ATLAS interims—especially for lower grades—have led the state to pull certain kindergarten–grade 2 interims. Board members asked staff to continue communicating with parents and to return with a reduced testing calendar and committee recommendations.
No formal policy change was approved at the meeting; staff said they will present committee findings and a streamlined calendar to the board for next year.
