MODIFIED DISTRIBUTION

Education Department: Twice as Many 'A' High Schools in Arkansas

"Eighteen Arkansas school districts earned A's or A-minuses, and 14 other systems received failing marks in the latest in a series of Arkansas Policy Foundation studies." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sept. 28, 2008

(April 2018) A new Arkansas Department of Education School Index report assigns twice as many 'A' grades to traditional high schools as failing ('F') marks.¹ ADE also reported more than three times as many 'A' grades to traditional elementary schools as failing marks. A standard distribution would report a similar number of 'A' and 'F' schools.

'A' High Schools

Benton

Bentonville

Bismarck

Concord

Des Arc

Eureka Springs

Greenbrier

Greenwood

Marshall

Mount Vernon-Enola

Mountain View

Norfork

Rural Special

Timbo

Valley Springs

Valley View

'F' High Schools

Dollarway

Hope

Jacksonville

Lee

Little Rock Hall

Little Rock J.A. Fair

Little Rock McClellan

Pine Bluff

More Than Three Times as Many 'A' Elementary Schools

'A' Elementary Schools (76)

Benton County Bentonville R.E. Baker, Elm Tree, Central Park at Morning Star, Cooper, and Willowbrook; Rogers Eastside, Garfield, Lowell, Bellview, Jones, and Janie Darr; Boone County Harrison Eagle Heights, Forest Heights, and Skyline Heights; Valley Springs; Carroll County Green Forest; Columbia County Emerson; Craighead County Valley View; Crawford County Van Buren City Heights; Faulkner County Conway Julia Lee Moore, Jim Stone, Woodrow Cummins, and Carolyn Lewis; Greenbrier Eastside, Westside, Springhill and Wooster; Franklin County Charleston; County Line; Fulton County Salem; Viola; Garland County Lakeside Primary and Intermediate; Hot Spring County Bismarck; Independence County Batesville West, and Sulphur Rock; Izard County Melbourne; Jackson County Tuckerman; Little River County Foreman Oscar Hamilton; Lonoke County Cabot Eastside, and Magness Creek; Miller County Genoa Central; Mississippi County Armorel; Pike County Centerpoint Primary; Pope County Pottsville; Russellville Center Valley; Prairie County Des Arc; Pulaski County Little Rock Forest Park, Jefferson, Williams, Don Roberts, and Forest Heights STEM Academy; North Little Rock Crestwood; Pulaski County Special Baker Interdistrict, and Chenal; Saline County Benton Ringgold; Bryant Salem, Springhill, and Collegeville; Sebastian County Fort Smith Cavanaugh, John P. Woods, Elmer H. Cook, and Euper Lane; Greenwood East Pointe; Stone County Mountain View; Timbo; Washington County Fayetteville Butterfield, Happy Hollow, Root, and Vandergriff, Springdale John Tyson, Walker, Bernice Young, and Hunt; White County Searcy Westside; and Woodruff County McCrory.

'F' Elementary Schools (21)

Chicot County Eudora; Crittenden County West Memphis Faulk; Jackson, Weaver, and Wonder; Howard County Mineral Springs; Jefferson County Dollarway Matthews; Pine Bluff Broadmoor; Thirty-Fourth Street, and Southwood; Watson Chapel L.L. Owen; Ouachita County Sparkman; Phillips County Eliza Miller; Pulaski County Little Rock Bale, Franklin Incentive, and Stephens; Jacksonville Warren Dupree; St. Francis County Forrest City Stewart; Union County El Dorado Retta Brown, and Yocum; and Strong-Huttig Gardner.

---

¹ The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (April 15) reported, "The index score for a school is made up of student results on the ACT Aspire test-including student scores, student improvement over time and the gains made by students who are not native English speakers. Also included in the index score are graduation rates for high schools as well as multiple indicators of school quality and student success."