Arkansas Education: 10th in the Nation

According to the Southwest Times Record, Arkansas has been ranked 10^th in education for the second year in a row, according to a report released on Jan. 14 that evaluates public education systems.

The 14^th annual Quality Counts report released by Education Week gave Arkansas a grade of B-minus for overall education quality. The nation as a whole received a C.

State Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell said in an interview, “We think it’s really important that we continue to build that ranking.” Kimbrell also believes the report “is important because it doesn’t just look at what you’re putting into the system, it looks at what is coming out of the system.”

The grades are assigned to all fifty states based on factors like educational policies, spending, student achievement and students’ chance of success. Arkansas was the only state west of the Mississippi River to get a grade higher than a C+. Massachusetts was the only state in the nation to receive an A, and Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Jersey all received A-minuses.

Arkansas’ lowest score in any category was a D in K-12 achievement. This grade was also seen on last year’s report. Kimbrell said it is one of his goals to improve in this area over time.

“We’re going to be looking at that and we think our achievement scores will continue to improve and we’ll see that ranking go up,” Kimbrell said.

Arkansas’ highest score was an A in standards, assessments, and accountability. The state has been trying to improve in this category for some time, according to Kimbrell, and this year’s score was an improvement from last year’s received B.

“We have created an accountability system that people understand now. We have an assessment program that is of high standards, and we have a set of standards in Arkansas … that we believe are pretty high,” Kimbrell said.