CONWAY, Ark. (August 18,
2017) – Hendrix College graduate Sami Sexton ’17 recently published Getting the Best Teachers Where They Are
Needed Most through the Arkansas Policy Program (APP).
Developed by Hendrix
politics professor Dr. Jay Barth with the support of the Bill and Connie Bowen
Odyssey Professorship, APP builds upon Barth’s ongoing public policy and public
opinion research and advocacy work related to Arkansas. Through APP, students
and faculty provide nonpartisan, original analyses on key public policy issues
in Arkansas through a new undergraduate think tank.
Hendrix alumna Sami Sexton
’17, now a law student at New York University, wrote the report for Arkansas
Advocates for Children and Families (AACF), a Little Rock-based organization
with the mission of ensuring that all children and their families have the
resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize
their full potential.
Sexton believes that changes
to the incentives for teachers who work in high-need school districts could
have an immediate positive impact on education in Arkansas.
“We have incentives in place
now, but it’s just not enough to make up for the salary differences across
school districts,” she said. “Long-term, I’d love to see an overhaul of the way
Arkansas funds school districts, shifting to a system that is more equitable
across the state and less dependent on local property tax revenues.”
“Arkansas faces major
challenges in teacher recruitment, retention, and equitable distribution of
highly-qualified teachers across the state,” said Dr. Ginny Blankenship, AACF
education policy director. “We’re grateful for the work that Sami did to bring
more attention to this issue, and policymakers would be wise to take note.”
Barth noted that Sexton’s
report includes helpful perspective on matters of teacher quality and
availability.
“Having a high-quality
teacher in the front of a classroom is the most crucial variable in positively
impacting student learning,” Barth said. “We also know that the teacher
pipeline is one of the most serious issues facing education in Arkansas. Sami’s
very strong piece of research places Arkansas’s teaching pipeline issues in the
national context and does a good job of laying out the challenges facing the
state in this area.”
Sexton encourages Arkansans
to see the progress already happening, and to demonstrate their interest in and
desire for continued improvement.
“Arkansas has taken steps
forward recently, and the legislature and the Department of Education continue
to study these issues to see what changes should be implemented,” she said. “I
hope that the combination of seeing those efforts, combined with knowing how
far we still have to go, would encourage people to become more engaged on the
subject, possibly communicating with their state legislators and making sure
they know that people want to see this progress continue.”
To receive a free PDF file
of the latest report or to learn more about APP, email barth@hendrix.edu, or view the report here.
About
Hendrix College
A private liberal arts
college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as
one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That
Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and
rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous
college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been
affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit
www.hendrix.edu.