Arkansas Schools

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Sited> Benton Public Schools. Here is one beautiful and wonderfully done home page. The site design was by Bill R. Thomas, M.D. -- obviously one great guy!

Sited > Crowley's Ridge College The maintenance people here are top notch. That is always a good leading indicator of how good a school is. If they are doing their job exceptionally well, and STILL happy you can just about bet you are at an exceptional facility. The administrative staff I met impressed me too, with their dedication and effectiveness. You will find this page a welcome sight for sore eyes, obviously the product of good teaching skills.

Sited > South Arkansas Community College The real campus is almost as good as this sparkling, well organized page it will do your heart good to visit.

Sited > University of Arkansas at Little Rock A terrific page, wonderfully laid out, full of help, great organizational skills, this page is to be commended to one and all. UALR Planetarium Home Page shows what space looks like from Central Arkansas. Suffice to say, their page is bright and wonderful. The UALR Law Library is almost as good as the real thing.

Sited > University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Another wonderful page that will be a well-spring of information to you for years to come.

John Brown University is a residential, coeducational college located in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Founded for the purpose of providing a Christ-centered education, the University embraces a three-fold emphasis on training the "Head, Heart, and Hand." The student body of 1100 undergraduates represents most of the 50 states, some 44 countries, and about 30 church denominations. JBU is located in a small community in Northwest Arkansas, about 30 miles west of Fayetteville, Arkansas and about 80 miles east of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Northwest Technical Institute has a lot to offer with one and two year diploma programs, adult education classes, and customized programs for almost any business or industry.

And for the truly wise
Here's a nice surprise

Ouachita Baptist University seeks to combine the love of God with the love of learning. The University provides the students the opportunity to experience growth in Christian ideals and character, to develop their intellectual and physical abilities, to think critically and creatively, to mature in their understanding and appreciation of their world, to communicate effectively and to accept their obligation to be of service to God and mankind. From my talks with students and faculty there I believe they are consistently achieving their goals. This page is reflective of what to expect from a personal visit.

Southern Arkansas University From art to zoology, from drama to drafting, from government to Greeks, SAU has something for everyone. Quite a good page. The art is original. The organization and content are easy to use.

University of Central Arkansas Located in Conway, UCA has 525 faculty, representing more than 100 different institutions. 70% of the full-time faculty hold doctoral degrees. The student-to-faculty ratio is 20 to 1. The home page is informative, helpful and easy to use. It can help you make a wise decision.

• Education resources are a resource for anyone intent on some serious investigation of schools in the state of Arkansas.
• There are many wonderful school districts in Arkansas. But the one that stands heads and shoulders above the others I have personally visited is way down south at Stephens. There are 245 students there, the standards are high, and more importantly, kept. The 37 teachers at Stephens somehow have the unique ability to make the students WANT to learn. As I went down the virtually empty halls, (which is amazing enough) I glanced in each door as I passed. I did note spot one student not intently studying. The one or two students I did pass in the hall were walking almost reverently. The most shocking thing there was the politeness displayed by the students. The first time a student was polite to me in one of the classrooms the experience was so different that I stood back to see if I was being conned. Before the morning was over dozens more students had personally shown examples of politeness to me. Most impressive of all though is that even while I was in the room, it was the teacher that held their attention. Those kids wanted to learn! I blame Superintendent Kees for that.

Many kids at Stephens are on-line. They write to each other by E-Mail, and have their own mail boxes there. Arkansas's drive to get schools on-line isn't enough. In school systems where the kids are on-line, but just turned loose there is virtually no growth, and only isolated sparkles of intelligence. Teaching is not a spectator sport. Putting I-am-a-Teacher slogans on the office walls does not help. Working your heart out for teachers and/or students doesn't necessarily work either. Whatever Superintendent Kees is doing, works; and the most observable thing I have seen him do is get out of the way while others did the important work extremely well.

The schools of Hughes (High and Elementary) are an oasis of hope in an area where that seems to be a dwindling resource. Somebody there has a vision. All the children I saw were bright, eager, cheerful, and almost astonishingly courteous. During my visit each school was receiving a brand new multi-media computer for the library, ready for the internet. The kids were intent on learning. Hughes is definitely one school system where more money is needed, and will be used wisely and well.

When it comes to playing football, the Barton area walks like a giant. Just outside town there is a big sign listing all the times Barton has won state championship... the poor sign is out of room. The coach has a good theory for winning games; it is called intimidation, "You make a few touchdowns right at the start,,, it knocks the heart out of the other team." My nephew in Carlisle played against Barton; his team was ripped to shreds. Playing against Barton was like playing against professionals. The whole school revolves around excellence. Mr. Harrington, a school principal there, has the most organized school office I know of. From the Science Lab especially, to the Band room, excellence abounds.

Russellville -- The educational system there is top notch and well launched into the 21st century. Other school systems wishing to form an internet site of their own would do well to tap on the link above for some solid pointers. After touring the college campus I should have expected no less than the best. I spent many happy hours here.

Texarkana! ** The school system here is exceptional. {Sure, I've been to other schools (and I won't mention names) where the kids were asleep and the teachers were reading comic books while at the head office it took at least 30 minutes for the principal's secretary to dig out an important phone number from beneath the literally toppling over jumbled heaps of scribbled notes and trash.} The school system of Texarkana is the exact opposite, students there are actually studying and the teachers competent as well as dedicated.

• "Huttig? Where is Huttig?" I asked when prompted to go visit the school there.
• "The highway to Huttig makes a U-Turn at Main Street," I was told.
• In a state where cities thrive on highway intersections that should have been a catastrophe. But somehow, Huttig is still alive, and at least striving well, if not thriving.
• It is said that Huttig will be on Oprah because of the community's involvement in the LOVE (Let Our Violence End) program. The students at Huttig are into the program in a really big way. Half the kids there were proudly wearing their LOVE shirts.
• Another program at Huttig is the NICE voting system. If you are REALLY nice you are voted to the honor of wearing a tiny sparkling star on your cheek. The enthusiasm with which the students (and staff) vied to win those stars was contagious. Just launched at Huttig is the idea that the Nicest Student Of The Month Award winner will have his/her picture made into a screen saver and put on all the computers at school.
• Bob Mathis, the Superintendent of Huttig, gets to school between six and six thirty each day. Throughout the day he goes about spreading comfort and dispensing cheer, encouraging more involvement, and issuing personal challenges to students. From the newest student to the oldest cook, Mr. Mathis is seen as the friendly sparkplug that keeps the school running.
• Huttig has also promised to begin posting sports stats on Arkansas Super Site. Other schools are invited to post their stats too. Write to me for more information.
• ... Arkansas high school swimming is the only page we have right now. More are wanted.



Sited> Family Education Network, the best site on the World Wide Web dedicated to helping families stay involved in their kids' education. Pam Wheaton Shorr is a mom and a step-mom, and the person looking after this site. I consider this site an absolute MUST for any parent and every teacher.

Sited> Get the Kaplan Advantage ** Good for kindergarten through med school, using brain teasers and interactive tests galore, this innovative and free newsletter is a must.

The Creative Classroom has all the creative resources of their magazine with even more interactive features. TEACHERS: Win prizes, get great classroom ideas, or bond with your colleagues.

Mrs. Barger's 5th graders create new life forms on the Internet Den. You will find many other wonderful adventures here too.

Scholastic Magazines has been making magic since I was earning $4 a day. Their netsite is working to make the net a safe place for kids to enjoy the curriculum-rich learning tools available from around the world. Loads of free things for kids too.

Here's the PBS site. The Discovery site, the Disney site, and the VSV site.

Here's a valuable and interactive site for homeschoolers, and teachers. There is a "tiny one time membership fee," However, the site also offers five great services including a free homepage and the School House Chat. "We have gathered some great information to help in the education of all our children and for a We're working diligently to make this one of the best family sites on the Internet."

How's your Electronic Grading Skills?

(c) copyright 1997 by Earl H. Roberts

Grading tests has never been easier, not since the OpScan III was introduced by National Computer Systems. NCS has over 30 years of experience in the Optical Mark Reading (OMR) technology field.

You already know how many hours are spent just grading tests. Now OpScan III will grade your tests for you -- Up to 1,200 pages an hour!. Imagine, putting all your tests in, and minutes later having all of them graded, with a printout for each student along with the grade average.

Now imagine having the same equipment give you the results of attendance. OpScan III will in fact, help you with many other information-gathering tasks. Best of all, it is integrated to work with your Pentamation software.

As you know APSCN has written special interface software to work with Pentamation and OpScan scanners. APSCN is now training school districts across the state on the use of Pentamation software. 14 out of 15 educational Co-ops in Arkansas are already using NCS scanners. That means, this package is ready to roll, with plenty of backup everywhere you look.

For the past 30 years NCS has been a world leader in the design and manufacture of OMR technology. The company is now a $330 million corporation, with more than 40,000 employees worldwide. NCS will continue to provide maintenance and technical support for all its products in the state as before.

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