Springdale wins national award for efforts to improve literacy

Northwest Arkansas

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) June 21, 2017 7:50 am 296 views 

The City of Springdale received the All-America City Award for its civic engagement to help more young children achieve grade-level reading proficiency and early school success. Springdale, according to a news release, was one of 15 communities nationwide to receive the award from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and the National Civic League.

“We are so honored to receive the All-America City Award, which recognizes the efforts of our entire community and the collaboration of so many organizations, educators, parents and volunteers working together to ensure that all our children can read proficiently and reach their full potential,” Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said in the release.

Springdale’s community profile for the award is available here. To select the 15 All-America City Award winners, a panel of judges examined self-assessments from the 27 communities that were nominated by National Civic League and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading as finalists. Community self-assessments are a rigorous process designed to help communities reflect on what’s working and prepare for the next phase of learning and action.

“This award demonstrates Springdale’s commitment to achieving the state-wide Arkansas Campaign for Grade Level Reading and R.I.S.E. Arkansas (Reading Initiative for Student Excellence) goals to build a culture of reading, educate parents about the importance of reading, increase access to books at home and boost professional development for educators,” of Springdale Superintendent Jim Rollins said in the release.

The award recognized Springdale for exemplary progress to support student and parent success in the Springdale School District. Through community-wide partnerships, Springdale has:

  • Reduced chronic absenteeism rates by nearly 70% at Monitor and Parson Hills elementary schools. In Arkansas, a student is defined as chronically absent when they miss 18 or more days of school per year. Both elementary schools moved the needle by informing parents about the importance of good attendance, monitoring attendance data monthly for patterns and trends, establishing a positive and engaging school climate, and reaching out to parents proactively and personally when a student misses school.
  • Decreased summer learning loss amongrising first through fourth graders from 81% in 2014–2015 to 89% 2015–2016 at George and Jones elementary schools in part to OneCommunity’s Feed Your Brain  Through Feed Your Brain, students have the opportunity to read bilingual books and learn reading techniques to encourage learning over the summer months.
  • Increased parent engagementthrough the Parents Taking Leadership Action program, which provides parents interactive lessons in their native language aimed at strengthening parent-school communication, increasing educational awareness and enhancing the leadership potential of parents from diverse populations.