District outlines new K–12 curriculum choices and reports early gains from $54,000 high-impact tutoring grant

Fayetteville — The Fayetteville School District presented proposed K–12 curriculum resources for fine arts and science and reported early positive signals from a high-impact tutoring grant that launched this school year.

Dr. Tate said district K–12 music and science teams reviewed content and recommended resources including Quaver, Make Music, Digital Theater and Savvas for science; teachers chose Arkansas AIMS for physical science and College Board–aligned publishers for several AP courses. The changes aim to strengthen standards alignment, scaffolded instruction and classroom assessment.

On tutoring, the district described a roughly $54,000 state grant used to fund a high-impact tutoring program emphasizing a 4:1 student-to-tutor ratio. Staff said they partnered with the University of Arkansas and used teacher candidates as tutors: about 20 U of A tutors supported secondary tutoring and roughly seven to eight served elementary sites. Reported participation included approximately 80 secondary math students and 25–30 elementary students, with daily sessions four to five days a week for literacy and three or more times a week for math.

"High-impact tutoring is one of the most effective ways to provide exactly that," Dr. Tate said, noting the program began in late January and is concluding a cycle this spring. Presenters said the state requirement that tutoring occur during the school day was met and that teachers and instructional coaches supported planning and feedback cycles for tutors.

Board members asked about training and oversight; staff described university coursework, PLCs and coaching cycles used to prepare tutors. Early turnaround from assessment platforms (Atlas) and anecdotal classroom evidence suggest gains; the district plans to present evaluation data at the next board meeting.

No action was required; the board received the update.