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Little Rock Schools


turboturtle

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In all the locations I've been to, the school year is the same as Arkansas. Now, there are some schools in California and other places that are "year-round", but it's uncommon. Not saying it's a bad idea although I do have some misgivings about it as it's nice to allow kids to be kids some of the time, but it's not common practice in any area I've been to.
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Screw "nice to allow kids to be kids some of the time." To me, that sorta mindset is why the US educational system is inferior internationally. We're so bad, that to save us from international humiliation the US withdrew from TIMSS.

I believe many year round schools have very close to the same number of class days as non-year round schools. Think trimesters with 3 week breaks in between each. I wonder how it could benefit families, especially families who struggle to work and keep kids our of trouble during the summer. In addition to the potential for improved academic performance, might there be a correlation to lower crime rates and areas with year-round schooling?

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There are at least one or two elementary schools in the LRSD that do year-round. From what I understand, pay isn't any different, and neither is the actual amount of instructional time, because rather than one huge break there are several smaller breaks throughout the year. The difference is that kids won't forget as much because there isn't as long of time to forget it.
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These continuing education hours are called Professional Development. Teachers are required to take 60 hours a year. It doesn't all have to be taken during the summer. Some of these hours can be fulfilled with college or online courses. They know what they are getting into when they take their jobs. Or they could find a full-time/year-round job in another profession.
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No problem with that reasoning with regard to newcomers to the teaching profession. In my in-laws experience, the professional development requirement was implemented well after they'd past the point of being able to find another profession.

And, it may be true when you say, 'hours can be fulfilled with college or online courses', but I don't believe teachers always have a choice in the matter. My father-in-law had to travel to Missouri one summer for his professional development course. He did not do that by choice. Generally, I think both my in-laws were receptive to the professional development and the reason for having it.

My point is that teachers are spending 4 to 5 weeks of the summer either closing down the school year, participating in professional development, or preparing for the next school year. Their actual time off is closer to 3 - 4 weeks.

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I can tell you how it compares to another country. In Britain (we've been here about 8 mons.), London to be specific, they start school around the first of Sept., get one week off in late Oct. for a fall break, and 2 week for winter break. Then they get 1 week off in mid Feb. for a mid winter break and 2 weeks in April for a spring break. Lastly they get a week off in May for a mid summer break and school ends in mid to late July. They get about 1 1/2 months off for the summer. They go to school for 195 days here.

Also they take their absences more seriously here. You don't just get to miss up to a set number off days for absences (sickness, family vacations, etc.) Here the parents and the school can get in trouble for unauthorized absences of 5 to 16 year olds. Parents found guilty of school absence offences could be fined up to 2500 GBP and/or 3 months in jail. The school prefer if you are out for sickness, that you have a doctors note. And if you want to take a family holiday you are supposed to request it and get authorization from the school.

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Sounds like a reasonable schedule. While I find it easy to fall back into the "heritage" of having a 3-month summer break for kids, frankly, to distribute learning a little more deliberately across the calendar is likely a better way to educate. And in the GB case, I like the fact that weight is given to a slightly longer summer break.

By the way, I would guess the transition from London to Maumelle is/was a shocker (not that its fundamentally different than the suburban lifestyle of much of America)! I lived in Italy for 6 months, and loved it...the more dense/urban lifestyle common in Europe is very appealing to me. What are your thoughts now that you've been here 8 months!?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Teacher pay has been a thread woven through this topic, so here is a link to an Arkansas News Bureau article on the subject.

Here are some of the highlights ...

Economic Policy Institute Study

Arkansas and 14 other states had gaps exceeding 25 percent, according to the report. The gap in Arkansas, according to the study, was 31.7 percent.

Education Week

A January report by Washington, D.C.-based Education Week had slightly different numbers, finding a 12 percent gap nationally and a 15.6 percent gap in Arkansas.

The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree is $28,897, she said, up from the $21,860 starting pay before the Legislature raised the minimum salary to $27,500 in 2004 during a court-ordered overhaul of public education.

The average teacher salary in Arkansas was $44,009 in 2006-2007, according to the state Bureau of Legislative Research.

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Teacher pay has been a thread woven through this topic, so here is a link to an Arkansas News Bureau article on the subject.

Here are some of the highlights ...

Economic Policy Institute Study

Arkansas and 14 other states had gaps exceeding 25 percent, according to the report. The gap in Arkansas, according to the study, was 31.7 percent.

Education Week

A January report by Washington, D.C.-based Education Week had slightly different numbers, finding a 12 percent gap nationally and a 15.6 percent gap in Arkansas.

The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree is $28,897, she said, up from the $21,860 starting pay before the Legislature raised the minimum salary to $27,500 in 2004 during a court-ordered overhaul of public education.

The average teacher salary in Arkansas was $44,009 in 2006-2007, according to the state Bureau of Legislative Research.

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Do not believe what you read all the time. This was a poorly researched article. The last figures posted by the Arkansas Department of Education (2006-2007) list the minimum starting salary for a teacher in Arkansas with a BA at $28,611. There are a number of districts that pay over over $40,000 for a starting position. The same figures by the ADE list the average starting salary for the state at $30,528. I am sure the figures have gone up this year also. The figures shown by the ADE do not really show what the average is, but give a district average. The larger districts in the state have the higher salaries and if you took the total number of starting teachers I would think the average starting salary would be higher than the district averages because the larger districts would have a larger number of starting teachers.
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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

I was really short on time when I posted about LR Central earlier this morning. I see LR Central getting ranked very highly. I was curious as to what really helps set it apart from other schools in the state. Mills came in pretty high as well at 111th. Then a couple of NWA schools showed up between 450 and 550. I'm not too familiar with the LR schools and was just curious to find out what Central has going for it.

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