Ashdown Junior High School and Ashdown High School have been recognized by the Office of Education Policy at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville as high-growth middle and high schools in the southwest region of Arkansas based upon the results of last year's 2017 ACT Aspire testing, particularly in the area of English Language Arts.
The schools showed an improvement in all tested areas last year and administrators expect the same level of growth from this year's ACT Aspire testing, which was conducted in May.
"This is a sign that our school is focused on student academic achievement and the students, as well as the entire AJHS staff are committed to continuing this success," Ashdown Junior High Principal James Jones stated in a press release. "The mission of the Office for Education Policy is to examine educational issues through the lens of academic research and disseminate findings to educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders around Arkansas."
The award highlights Arkansas schools student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in mathematics and English Language Arts. Growth is calculated at the student level and reflects how much a student improved their score from the prior year compared to what was predicted based on prior achievement history.