LITTLE ROCK – The state Department of Education has released letter grades for all public schools in Arkansas. They can be found on the Department’s web site.
The Internet address for the school report cards is quite lengthy. Perhaps the simplest way to access them is to conduct a search for “Arkansas school letter grades 2025.”
Here is the address of the web page: https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/public-school-accountability/school-performance/school-letter-grade.
The letter grades were given to 1,032 schools in Arkansas and 352, about a third, were given a “C” while 291 received a “B.”
A total of 122 schools received an “A,” 137 received a “D” and 130 received an “F.”
The grades of elementary and middle schools were based on three categories. The first is the percentages of students who scored at proficient or better on standardized tests in English, math and science. The second category measured how much students’ test scores had improved in those three subjects. The third category measured improvement by students at the bottom fourth of the rankings.
Those three categories were also used to grade high schools, along with a fourth category that measured the percentage of graduates and the percentage of graduates who went on to college, the military or employment. When an official of the Education Department appeared before a legislative committee in August, she was asked if the diversity of the population within a school district affected how its grades were calculated. The official said it did not.
Department officials were careful to ensure that measures of student growth did not correlate to any particular demographic, she said. It should fairly allow districts to demonstrate academic growth no matter what the socio-economic breakdown of their student population.
Two-thirds of elementary and middle school ratings will be based on the extent to which students are meeting their individualized growth targets each year. More than a third of high school ratings will be based on individual student growth.
The formula for calculating this year’s school letter grades is new, and education officials say it allows parents to better draw comparisons among different public schools. One reason the Education Department devised a new system of letter grades for schools is that students are taking different standardized tests than previously.
Also, the Education Secretary said some superintendents had concerns that the old system of school report cards did not accurately reflect what was being achieved in their schools.
Letter grades enhance school choice for parents by allowing them to compare schools. They also enable educators to identify areas that need support, with the ultimate goal of not having a school that fails.
Since the spring of 2024 students have been taking the Arkansas Teaching, Learning & Assessment System (ATLAS). Earlier this year the legislature approved Act 474 instructing educators to change the accountability system so that it aligns with the LEARNS Act and with new student standardized testing.
The LEARNS Act was passed in 2023. It’s a broad reform of public school financing and academic standards which, among many other things, raised teacher salaries and expanded literacy programs.
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