Two years after enactment, SB752 (Act 696), To Clarify for Parents the Public School Rating System on Annual School Report Cards, has been implemented.
The measure, sponsored by Senator Jim Hendren, provides A-F grades for each public school in Arkansas, and its genesis can be traced back to Act 35 of 2004.
While Alternative Learning Environment (ALE) schools are exempt, 1,050 Arkanas public schools received the following grades:
- A – 162 (15%)
- B – 322 (31%)
- C – 365 (35%)
- D – 158 (15%)
- F – 43 (4%)
To help Arkansans understand the new grading system, the Arkansas Department of Education issued Arkansas School Grading System Talking Points, accompanied by a video. Unfortunately and inexplicably, a system intended to better inform parents is not parent/user-friendly. So…
To see the cumulative grades for a district (unassociated with specific schools):
- Click here: https://adesrc.arkansas.gov
- Click the desired district or charter school
- Click the View District Report Card or Download District Report Card PDF icon at the far right
- Scroll to page headed ‘INDICATOR: School Performance‘
- Look down left column, to middle of page at heading: School Rating
- Look eight columns to the right, see Cumulative Grades for district, charter’s schools
To see the grades for specific schools:
- Click here: https://adesrc.arkansas.gov
- Click the desired district or charter school
- Click the desired school in the drop down
- Click the View School Report Card or Download School Report Card PDF icon at the far right
- Scroll to page headed ‘INDICATOR: School Performance‘
- Look down left column, to middle of page at heading: School Rating
- Look seven columns to the right, see the Letter Grade, with the Score underneath
A list of school grades and scores, unfortunately sorted by LEA numbers instead of alphabetically, may be found here.
In the Little Rock School District, 42 schools received the following grades:
- A – 4 (10%)
- B – 6 (14%)
- C – 10 (24%)
- D – 14 (35%)
- F – 8 (19%)
McClellan High, which has been declared in Academic Distress for three-year averages of less than 50% proficient in Math and Literacy, achieved a C, far outpacing fellow Academic Distress Schools Hall and Fair.
LRSD middle schools, however, were abysmal in both performance and gains, with four schools receiving Fs, and three receiving Ds.
Only four schools in the district – all elementary – received As: Forest Park, Terry, Roberts and Carver.
Terry, the second highest scoring school in the entire district, is 82% low income and 86% non-white. The fourth highest scoring school in the district, Carver, is 79% low income and 76% non-white. If learning is happening here, what are the excuses where it is not?
Total grades and scores (on a 300 point scale), from highest to lowest, are as follows:
High Schools
Middle Schools
| School | Grade | Score |
| Pulaski Heights | D | 205 |
| Mann | D | 197 |
| Dunbar | D | 181 |
| Mabelvale | F | 178 |
| Henderson | F | 158 |
| Cloverdale | F | 157 |
| *Forest Heights | F | 157 |
*Reconfigured to K-8 Forest Heights STEM Academy
Elementary Schools
| Schools | Grade | Score |
| Forest Park | A | 300 |
| Terry | A | 290 |
| Roberts | A | 289 |
| Carver | A | 277 |
| Jefferson | B | 266 |
| Williams | B | 265 |
| Gibbs | B | 253 |
| Brady | B | 240 |
| Mabelvale | C | 236 |
| Otter Creek | C | 236 |
| Dodd | C | 233 |
| Fulbright | C | 231 |
| Bale | C | 228 |
| Wakefield | C | 228 |
| Wilson | C | 217 |
| Franklin | C | 213 |
| Pulaski Heights | C | 211 |
| Washington | D | 201 |
| Stephens | D | 200 |
| Baseline | D | 197 |
| McDermott | D | 197 |
| Meadowcliff | D | 197 |
| Western Hills | D | 192 |
| Booker | D | 190 |
| Chicot | D | 188 |
| Watson | D | 188 |
| Rockefeller | D | 186 |
| King | D | 183 |
| Romine | F | 177 |
| *Geyer Springs | F | 172 |
*Reconfigured to Geyer Springs Gifted & Talented Academy
To advance transparency in public education, Act 696 (A-F Grades for Schools) was a legislative priority of Arkansas Learns during the 89th General Assembly.