More Evidence of Adequacy Cases Leading to Improvements in Student Achievement

After years of court oversight the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that Arkansas schools had achieved constitutional compliance. A recent report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, “Education in the Post Lake-View Era: What is Arkansas Doing to Close the Achievement Gap?" evaluates the state’s progress toward equity over the past six years since the 2002 Lake View decision. It concludes that following “intense attention” after Lake View, Arkansas has taken major steps to improve curricular standards, teacher quality, school facilities, and early education programs.

Specifically, the report states that on a national spectrum, Education Week ranked Arkansas fourth for its policies to promote teacher quality and eighth for overall educational quality in 2008. With regard to teacher salaries, the American Federation of Teachers ranked Arkansas 37th in the nation in 2003-2004, up from its 43rd ranking in 2002-2003. The report says that Arkansas has since raised teacher salaries to rank 32nd in the nation. Since the 2002 decision, Arkansas’ leadership has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for its rigorous curricular standards and by the National Institute for Early Education Research for its pre-K quality standards. In addition, the state has significantly improved school facilities and increased per-pupil funding.

Arkansas students have also shown great progress on their test scores. According to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, between 2003 and 2007 Arkansas students approached national averages in their scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and Arkansas was one of three states to improve on three of the four NAEP tests. From 2001 to 2007 the percentage of fourth graders reaching proficiency on the math portion of the state benchmark exam also increased from 42% to 65%, despite increased difficulty of the exam itself. During this same period, ACT scores improved from 17 to 21, a rate higher than the national growth.

Yet, the report notes that test scores also reflect persistent achievement gaps between students of different subgroups. Now that successful reforms are in place, the report contends, Arkansas should address the severe achievement gaps that remain between students of different racial and economic groups.

Prepared by Marcela Briceno, March 25, 2008