MonticelloLive

Arkansas public schools were ranked eighth in the nation in a report issued by Education Week, a publication based in Washington, D.C., that considers itself a paper of record for national education news.

Such a high ranking for Arkansas schools is extremely rare. What makes the report so encouraging is that Education Week has a sterling reputation. Also, it is encouraging to see Arkansas ranked in the top 10 with states whose schools have traditionally been ranked high. New York and Massachusetts were first and second, while Pennsylvania and Maryland were third and fourth.

The report had a couple of the usual states at the bottom of its rankings. Mississippi was 48th and the public schools of Washington, D.C., were ranked last at number 51.

But there were exceptions to the usual listings, which educators can almost recite from memory because they are have remained so constant over the years. Arkansas’ ranking eighth is one; West Virginia’s sixth place ranking is another.

Connecticut schools are often ranked near the top, just as certain football programs are routinely picked in the top 10 by sportswriters. But Connecticut schools were only 19th in the Education Week survey.

A major reason for the departures from tradition is that the report took into account several factors in addition to students’ academic achievement. In the student achievement category Arkansas scored a D, which was Arkansas’ lowest score out of all the six categories.

The national average for student achievement was only a D+, however, so our poor score did not pull Arkansas down too far the average.

Arkansas also scored slightly below the national average in a category called “Chance for Success.” It takes into account factors beyond the control of schools, such as family income and the percentage of parents who have a college degree.

We scored a B+ in “Standards, Assessments and Accountability.” The national average is B. The Arkansas legislature deserves a lot of credit for improvements in this category because of the numerous education reforms enacted in response to the Lake View school funding lawsuit.

In the “Finance” section we scored B -, above the national average of C+. Again, the Arkansas legislature has allocated hundreds of millions of new dollars to public schools in the past few years and our steady increases in school funding are reflected in the Education Week rankings.

Arkansas was well above the national average in “The Teaching Profession” category. We scored a B+ and the national average was C. Additional school funding approved by the legislature made possible significant increases in classroom teacher salaries. Also, the state has taken steps to make sure teachers are certified in the subjects they teach, and that new teachers can learn from mentors.

Overall, Arkansas scored a B- while the national average was a C. A lot of people deserve praise for our eighth place ranking, from teachers, principals and administrators at the local level to policy makers at the state level.

To have a well-respected national magazine recognize the improvements to Arkansas public schools is incentive to keep working harder.