Arkansas's new school scorecard: most districts steady, dozens show measurable gains

Jacob Levy, secretary of education, told the Senate Education Committee that the Department's newly released school scorecard shows mixed but largely steady results statewide. "About 72 and a half percent of the schools retained the same letter grade," Levy said, and "about 14 and a half percent
lmost 150 of them
ctually improved a letter grade from the previous year, while 14% declined." He also read the raw grade counts: 76 A, 199 B, 416 C, 252 D and 77 F.

Levy described how the grade derives from several components: weighted achievement in grades 3 (ELA, math, science), a value-added growth measure (VAM) and a School Quality and Student Success (SQSS) bucket that includes indicators such as science growth, reading-on-grade-level and opportunities like advanced placement and on-time credits. "We use an A through F system that aligns with federal ESSA requirements," he said, and noted the state also identifies schools needing targeted (TSNI) or comprehensive (CSNI) support.

The department announced an LEA Insights portal that provides districts two years of aggregated value-added data. Levy said staff used that portal to identify roughly 28 "high-impact" teachers who generated more than a year-and-a-half of student growth in failing schools; the department has begun a qualitative study with the University of Arkansas to learn their practices. "We found about 28 teachers that were getting more than a year and a half worth of growth out of their students in a failing school," Levy said.

Sen. Chesterfield pressed whether teachers who helped the department were paid. "Right now, I'm probably say it was out of the goodness of their heart," Levy replied, and added that they plan to explore incentive dollars going forward. Chesterfield also requested data showing whether providers such as Solution Tree participated in cohorts that improved outcomes; Levy said the department can provide cohort participation and spending details as a follow-up to committee staff.

Levy emphasized early literacy as a continuing priority and thanked department staff for accelerating the publication of the scorecard data so schools could act on it. Committee members asked technical and access questions about the LEA Insights portal and unified progress-monitoring for K; Levy said the state is seeking a vendor and expects teacher-access to a coordinated progress-monitoring system in the 202425 school year.

The committee did not vote on policy at the meeting; members requested follow-up data (cohort participation, consultant spending, and dollar equivalents for federal-state-local funding breakdowns) from the department.