Arkansas § 6-15-2701 - Closing achievement gap program — Definition.

§ 6-15-2701. Closing achievement gap program — Definition.

As used in this section, “school in need of support” means a public school identified as in need of comprehensive support and improvement, additional targeted support, or targeted support and improvement under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Pub. L. No. 89-10, as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. No. 114-95. A school district that has a school in need of support shall use its Enhanced Student Achievement Funding under § 6-20-2305(b)(4) to evaluate the impact of educational strategies used by the school in need of support to address the achievement gaps among students in the school in need of support. The evaluation shall: Identify the categories of programs and intervention strategies used with Enhanced Student Achievement Funding; and Report the progress made towards meeting the established goals for the school in need of support for the end of the immediately preceding school year and for the end of the current school year of students involved in the programs and intervention strategies identified under this subdivision (b)(2). The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall: Promulgate rules necessary to implement this section, including without limitation establishing the categories by which a school in need of support shall identify programs and intervention strategies under subsection (b) of this section; and In a comprehensive school-level improvement plan, direct the use of Enhanced Student Achievement Funding for strategies to close gaps in academic achievement, including without limitation: Using disaggregated school data to set academic improvement targets in reading, writing, mathematics, and science; Using improvement targets to define professional development needs related to content, instruction, differentiation, and best practices in educating special education students, gifted and talented students, English language learners, and other student subgroups as needed; Developing interim building-level assessments to monitor student progress toward proficiency on the state benchmark assessments; Developing a plan to immediately address gaps in learning; Examining and realigning, as needed, school scheduling, academic support systems, and assignments of personnel; and Designing a plan for increasing parental knowledge and skill to support academic objectives. The division shall identify the schools with the largest achievement gaps among students and give to those schools in need of support the division's highest priority for: Monitoring school-level improvement plans as required under § 6-15-2914; and Providing support under this subchapter.