LRSD presents ATLAS interim results, Ignite tutoring update and state value-added findings
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Summary
District staff reviewed midyear ATLAS interim assessment results, an Ignite virtual tutoring midyear report showing progress for participating students, and a state value-added student growth model summary; leaders said early-grade gains are promising but students at the lowest performance level need more progress.
At its Feb. 13 agenda meeting, Little Rock School District staff presented three related academic updates: ATLAS interim assessment results, a midyear report on the Ignite 1-to-1 virtual tutoring program, and a summary of the Arkansas value‑added student-growth model.
District presenters described the ATLAS interim as an optional December assessment aligned to end‑of‑year standards and urged trustees to interpret results as a “moment in time.” The district cautioned that some standards included in the interim had not yet been taught to students, so the test shows both what students have learned so far and what they have yet to receive in instruction. Staff said the district’s early grades (third, fourth and eighth in several subjects) are closer to state levels in some areas, but students at “level 1” (limited understanding) lag behind the state and are a districtwide priority.
The board heard a school-level example from Fulbright Elementary, where Principal Jackson and assistant principal Swift described school data work and the use of “Falcon Time” (a scheduled intervention block) to reteach standards and provide interventions for students at lower performance levels.
District staff then reviewed Ignite, a 1-to-1 virtual tutoring intervention the district uses for targeted students in network 3. The program currently serves 350 seats funded by a state grant; attendance for the tutoring sessions during the December–January instructional window was reported at roughly 79 percent. Staff said Ignite tutors meet students daily for about 15 minutes and that when students are progress-monitored, they pass the current skill protocol about 77 percent of the time. Principals from participating schools, including McDermott, told the board Ignite provides targeted, individual practice for foundational reading skills and that the program is especially helpful when building-level intervention time is insufficient.
Board members asked whether the district could expand seats (350 is the current grant-funded number), how students are prioritized for seats (the district said it targeted the bottom 25% in network 3 and allocated seats by school size), and how the district will sustain or expand Ignite if additional funding is not available. Staff said Ignite costs roughly $2,500 per seat and that a 100-seat expansion would cost about $250,000; the board discussed state funding, private foundation support, and district budget trade-offs as potential avenues.
Finally, district staff summarized Arkansas’s value-added student growth model, which for this year used a three-year historical baseline to estimate expected growth. Staff said the model showed stronger outcomes in ELA overall (third, fifth, seventh and eighth grades met growth expectations) and more mixed results in math, but that an important pattern emerged across content areas: students in performance levels 2–4 generally met growth expectations while students at level 1 did not. Staff noted English learners and some subpopulations showed consistent growth in several grades, and they recommended continued emphasis on early literacy, expanded structured intervention blocks (wind/Falcon time), and targeted work on math instruction.
District leaders said these items will inform school-level interventions, professional development and budget priorities; the board did not take a formal vote on the presentations, which were informational.
