FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas researchers from the National Office for Rural Measurement and Evaluation Systems (NORMES) will work with the National Center for Educational Accountability and the Arkansas Department of Education to improve student achievement in Arkansas public schools through a study of best educational practices.

NORMES and its partners will launch the Arkansas Best Practices Study at a reception in the University of Arkansas Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House on Wednesday, November 19, 2003, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Speakers at the reception will include Sen. John Boozman; Dr. Jean Rutherford, director of educational initiatives of the National Center for Educational Accountability; and Dr. Jane Armstrong, senior policy advisor of the Education Commission of the States. Governor Huckabee is the incoming chair of the commission.

"We are pleased to be in partnership with the state’s department of education, the National Center for Educational Accountability and the Education Commission of the States," said Reed Greenwood, dean of the college of education and health professions. "This college is an integral part of the overall efforts to improve public education in Arkansas."

Greenwood said that the Arkansas Best Practices Study is the latest in a host of research and service initiatives by college faculty focusing on leadership, school improvement, teacher quality, accountability and policy issues in education.

Woodrow Cummins, deputy director of the Arkansas Dept. of Education, said that the Arkansas Best Practices Study is part of a program sponsored by the National Center for Educational Accountability for evaluating best educational practices nationally. Using the center’s Framework of School System Practices will enable Arkansas to identify consistently high-performing schools and to investigate what is working in those schools.

Studying exemplary Arkansas schools will provide a strong research base for the improvement of education practices that support student learning. Successful practices will be shared regionally and nationally through a Web system sponsored by the National Center for Educational Accountability and its co-sponsors, Just for the Kids and the Education Commission of the States.

The Arkansas Best Practices Study is a three-year project beginning with elementary schools. This will be followed by studies of middle-level and high schools in years two and three.

UA researchers lead by Sean Mulvenon, professor of educational statistics and director of NORMES, will work with the National Center for Educational Accountability and the state education department to train faculty and graduate students who will conduct the research. NORMES staff will work with the partners to select 15 elementary schools statewide to take part in the research. Site visits will be scheduled in spring 2004, and the results will be available on the national Web site the following fall.

Arkansas is one of eight states conducting similar studies in conjunction with the National Center for Educational Accountability, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

NORMES was established in fall 2003 with a grant of nearly half a million dollars from the U.S. Department of Education to help school districts collect and analyze data necessary to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It extends to a national level the data system developed for use in Arkansas by the UA Office for Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

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