Academic Standards
A Pathway to Academic Excellence
Fort Smith Public Schools is dedicated to providing every student with equitable access to a high-quality education. To achieve this, the district sets rigorous academic standards that challenge students and guide them toward proficiency.
Each year, district stakeholders—including teachers, instructional specialists, administrators, and curriculum content consultants—collaborate to develop Year-at-a-Glance documents. These documents outline the district’s essential standards for literacy, math, science, and social studies, ensuring a clear and consistent framework for academic expectations.
The Year-at-a-Glance documents are reviewed and updated annually through a structured feedback process, allowing for continuous improvement and alignment with the latest educational research and best practices.
Curriculum Audit
In 2022, Curriculum Management Solutions, inc (CMSi) conducted a curriculum audit of Fort Smith Public Schools. This audit was designed to assess how well the district has developed and implemented a comprehensive system for managing curriculum.
The audit evaluated the following key aspects:
- Design and Development: How the curriculum is created and organized.
- Implementation: How the curriculum is put into practice.
- Evaluation and Support: How the curriculum is assessed and supported over time.
When effectively aligned with the district's vision for student engagement, a well-managed curriculum system can lead to improved student learning and achievement, provided that all its components work together seamlessly.
FSPS Strengths
The district staff [members] are a strength. They are very collaborative
working together, and they have a heart for kids.
State Standards
Educators from across the state collaborate to develop comprehensive standards that set clear expectations for what all students should know and be able to do at each grade level. These standards serve as a foundation for ensuring consistent, high-quality education statewide.
In addition to outlining student expectations, the documents include teacher notes which provide guidance to support teachers in effectively implementing the standards in their classrooms. By following these notes, educators can ensure that the standards are applied consistently and with consistency, promoting equitable learning outcomes for all students.
In 2023, these standards were carefully reviewed and updated to reflect the latest educational research and best practices, ensuring that they continue to meet the evolving needs of students and educators alike.
Academic Advancement Programs
Fort Smith Public Schools introduced two new programs—E.L. Achieve and Benchmark Education Consultants—to drive academic process by enhancing teachers' ability to effectively implement Benchmark Education. These programs were piloted during the 2022-2023 school year in 10 of the district's 18 elementary schools, specifically focusing on those that had received a school accountability letter grade of C or lower.
E.L. Achieve
E.L. Achieve partners with educational agencies to create equitable systems that empower English learners to achieve academic success. Through this partnership, consultants worked closely with our teachers to enhance outcomes for English Language Learners (ELLs). Their efforts led to significant improvements, including:
- 194 more students achieving proficiency on the ELPA21 assessment compared to the previous year.
- Six schools (Howard, Morrison, Park, Tilles, Sunnymede, and Sutton) saw increases in their English Language Assessment (ELA) scores on the ACT Aspire.
- Five schools (Howard, Morrison, Park, Tilles, and Sutton) boosted their reading scores on the ACT Aspire.
Moving forward, FSPS will extend E.L. Achieve to middle schools to further support academic growth and achievement.
Benchmark Education Consultants
Benchmark Education Consultants provides core language arts programs grounded in the science of reading, offering a cohesive structure for developing literacy skills and content knowledge. Their recommendations played a crucial role in improving literacy scores in English and Reading for eleven FSPS elementary schools. The impact of their work was evident in the following results:
- Nine schools showed growth in reading scores on the ACT Aspire.
- Seven schools demonstrated improvement in the English Language Assessment portion of the ACT Aspire.
Building on the success observed during the pilot phase, Fort Smith Public Schools plans to expand the use of Benchmark Education Consultants to all elementary schools, aiming to enhance academic performance district-wide.