Arkansas

The Second Edition of the National Report Card on public school funding, Is School Funding Fair?, shows that far too many states continue to deny public schools the essential resources they need to meet the needs of the nation's 53 million students and to boost academic achievement. The National Report Card rates the 50 states on the basis of four "fairness indicators" - funding level, funding distribution, state fiscal effort, and public school coverage. The Report provides the most in-depth analysis to date of state education finance systems and school funding fairness across the nation. How does your state measure up? 

Numerous national groups, including the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign and the Annie E. Cassie Foundation, have made access to quality early childhood education a crucial part of their campaigns. This report, from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, provides further evidence that pre-K programs can make a difference in a child's long-term academic success and that they are espcially important for low-income children. This report is especially important as it shows the marked increase in student achievement as a result of a 2003 AR law which established the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success program for three- and four-year-old children who live in families with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line. More than 59 percent of Arkansas children from birth to age three live below that 200 percent threshold. 

Teachers and students shouldn’t be judged on test scores, grades, and reading levels if they don’t have the proper tools to produce high-quality outcomes. An Arkansas Student Bill of Rights, using opportunity to learn (OTL) standards as the basis for measurement and accountability, unequivocally ensures the state will provide all students with the resources necessary to obtain a high-quality public education and achieve success in college and later, a career, including access to high-quality early childhood education, prepared and effective teachers, college preperatory curriculum for all students, and equitable instructional materials.

In 2010, the President set a goal for the U.S. to become the global leader in postsecondary degree attainment by the year 2020. Yet, more than 7,000 students, many of whom are not proficient in reading and math, are leaving or being pushed out of U.S. schools each day. This study shows that the U.S. cannot achieve the President’s 2020 goal if our schools continue to hemorrhage large segments of our nation’s youth. Accordingly, this document is designed to serve as a blueprint for implementing a comprehensive package of policy reforms that seek to increase the quantity of students who succeed at every stage of the educational pipeline and the quality of the education they receive. Different from most calls for reform, it considers the educational pipeline in its entirety—from early childhood through postsecondary attainment—and offers evidence‐informed strategies to boost access, quantity and quality at every stage.

This report from the National Institute for Early Education Research analyzes national and state statistics and trends on the availabilty of quality Pre-K programs across the country. The report includes detailed state profiles that measure not just access access to early education opportunities but also whether available Pre-K programs meet a set of 10 benchmarks for quality.