It couldn’t have happened to a better, harder-working group. I believe completely that SFA is where the credit lies.
Tiffany Morgan, Principal
The Challenge
West Elementary School (now Carroll Smith Elementary) in Osceola, Arkansas, faced some teaching challenges, with a disadvantaged 98.7% minority population, all of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
But that did not stop the school from adopting Success for All and striving hard to meet their annual measurable objectives. “We always felt we were on the right track,” says West principal Tiffany Morgan, “so we just kept pushing. We set goals every year.”
The Result
The school’s steady progress and hard work paid off. In 2011, the Arkansas Department of Education named West as an exemplary school. This was a great honor, given that criteria were strict and 1,200 schools were eligible.
“It couldn’t have happened to a better, harder-working group,” says Morgan. She also adds that the school could not have done it alone. “I believe completely that SFA is where the credit lies.”
To determine exemplary schools, the Arkansas Department of Education calculated a three-year average percentage of students who scored proficient and advanced in math and literacy on the
Arkansas Benchmark and End of Course Exams. In the High Performance High Targeted Achievement Gap Group (TAGG) category – which indicates a school’s high economically disadvantaged population – West was one of only three schools to receive the distinction.
Morgan is quick to cite the students’ hard work and dedication. “I really don’t believe that there was a group of students who deserved it more.”
She adds: “I would say the SFA brought us direction, because it works. It works.”