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Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services of New York announced in August of last year that Arkansas City is 11th in the state of Kansas for significantly narrowing the achievement gap between economically disadvantage and non-disadvantaged students, while simultaneously raising the proficiency rates of the student groups being compared.

Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced in September that Arkansas City is one of the 16 highly "Resource-Effective" school districts in Kansas, following a resource management study by Standard & Poor's in New York.

The districts are particularly effective in using their financial resources to optimize student academic achievement, the governor said.

The study was performed in an effort to help the state of Kansas maximize how it spends money on public schools. Gov. Sebelius said that Standard & Poor's completed the first step in an effort designed to help make Kansas school districts more effective and accountable.

"We made an investment in our schools this year. But with that investment must come increased accountability," the governor said. "Parents and students expect schools to get that money into classrooms.

"And taxpayers deserve schools to use every dollar wisely. We've identified 16 Kansas school districts that should serve as models for how to spend every education dollar effectively."

The goal of the study is to help Kansas identify those districts that are particularly effective in using their financial resources to increase student achievement (i.e., resource-effective), and then to analyze these districts' management practices in the allocation of key resources, such as money and staff.

Compared to the state average, Arkansas City spends more on classroom instruction and less on administration. The emphasis on spending in Arkansas City is on instruction.

The district spends 71.9 percent of core spending per student on instruction, compared to the state average of 69.9 percent. The district spends only 6.9 percent on administration, contrasted to the state average of 12.3 percent.

Local taxpayers contribute much less than the state average for education. The percentage of total revenue from local sources for Arkansas City is 20.3 percent, compared to the state average of 34.7 percent. Arkansas City also spends more than $1,000 less than the state average on core spending per student.

Standard & Poor's determined resource effectiveness by analyzing the relationship between student performance on Kansas' math and reading assessments, the percentage of a school district's economically disadvantaged students and the level of district spending.

Below is a list of awards and accomplishments of Arkansas City public schools in recent years.

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Six schools earned Standard of Excellence recognition awards from the Kansas State Department of Education following the 2005 Kansas State Assessments. This brings the total number of Standards of Excellence to 24 over the past four years.

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IXL and Frances Willard Elementary Schools both received Challenge Awards for fifth grade reading.

The Challenge Awards are designed to recognize Kansas schools that are making a significant difference in student achievement despite facing significant challenges in school population. The awards recognize performance on state assessments that exceeds normal expectations based on the ethnicity and socioeconomic status of those taking the test.

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IXL Elementary School was honored as a national No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon School in 2005. "The Blue Ribbon Award is the culmination of five years of intense comprehensive reform efforts of many including parents, students, the board, district ... and the entire IXL staff," Mark Whitener, principal, said. "If we have learned anything over the last five years, I think it is that every child can learn to high standards and are limited only by our expectations."

The Blue Ribbon Schools program recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels. IXL met both criteria. These schools are nominated by their respective state departments of education. Approximately five schools from each state are recognized.

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National Title I Distinguished School Award

Frances Willard was honored in 2004 with a National Title I Distinguished School Award, one of only 33 in the nation.

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2006 Kansas Teacher of the Year Regional Semi-Finalists

Cory Epler and Deb Herndon were selected as regional semi-finalists for the 2006 Kansas Teacher of the Year. Epler and Herndon also were the two recipients of the Arkansas City Public Schools Exemplary Educator Awards.

Epler is an agricultural education teacher at Arkansas City High School, and Herndon is a special education teacher at IXL Elementary School.

Arkansas City was the only district at the Region IV Kansas Teacher of the Year banquet to have both nominees selected as regional semi-finalists.

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Standard & Poor's recognition

Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services of New York announced in August 2005 that Arkansas City is 11th in the state of Kansas for significantly narrowing the achievement gap between economically disadvantage and non-disadvantaged students, while simultaneously raising the proficiency rates of the student groups being compared.

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Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced in September of 2005 that Arkansas City is among the 16 highly "Resource-Effective" school districts in Kansas.

"We made an investment in our schools this year. But with that investment must come increased accountability," Sebelius said at the time. "Parents and students expect schools to get that money into classrooms. And taxpayers deserve schools to use every dollar wisely. We've identified 16 Kansas school districts that should serve as models for how to spend every education dollar effectively."

The goal of the study is to help Kansas identify districts particularly effective in using financial resources to increase student achievement (i.e., resource-effective), and then to analyze these districts' management practices in the allocation of key resources, such as money and staff.

Compared to the state average, Arkansas City spends more on classroom instruction and less on administration. The emphasis on spending in Arkansas City is on instruction. The district spends 71.9 percent of core spending per student on instruction, compared to the state average of 69.9 percent. The district spends only 6.9 percent on administration, contrasted to the state average of 12.3 percent.

Local taxpayers contribute much less than the state average for education. The percentage of total revenue from local sources for Arkansas City is 20.3 percent, compared to the state average of 34.7 percent. Arkansas City also spends more than $1,000 less than the state average on core spending per student.

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OTHER AWARDS

Arkansas City High School received two 2005 Career and Technical Education Exemplary Program Awards from the Kansas State Department of Education.

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2006 Horizon Award nominees are Rochelle Gray, third grade teacher at IXL, and Ed Hosch, social studies teacher at Arkansas City High School. Rochelle did receive a Horizon Award from the Kansas State Department of Education.

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This year's recipient of the Exemplary Educator Award is Rosann Meier, first grade teacher at Adams Elementary School.

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Frances Willard Elementary School is nominated for a 2006 National No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon School Award. Results are expected in the fall of 2006.