Arkansas Parents' Role in Education: Statistics and Insights

The involvement of parents in education is a critical factor in a child's academic success and overall well-being. This article examines the statistical landscape of parental involvement in Arkansas, highlighting key trends, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.

Early Childhood Education: Building a Foundation

The foundation for a child's education is built early in life with nurturing and enriching interactions with parents and other caregivers. One measure of this is the availability of quality early child care and preschool. Arkansas has the capacity to serve 34% of preschoolers in quality, public programs, and only 10% of infants and toddlers. During the 2022-2023 school year, Arkansas preschools enrolled 19,248 children, an increase of 151 from the prior year. State spending totaled $106,500,000, with an additional $7,500,000 in TANF funds and $45,389,941 in federal recovery funds supporting the program, up $12,635,372 (9%), adjusted for inflation, since last year. State spending per child (including TANF and federal recovery funds) equaled $8,281 in 2022-2023, up $596 from 2021-2022, adjusted for inflation.

The Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) program began in 1991 as part of a statewide education reform initiative, with funding ($10 million) earmarked to serve children birth to 5 years old based on family income, developmental, and/or economic risk factors. In 2003, legislation known as Arkansas Better Chance for School Success (ABCSS) set priorities for funding, supporting 3- and 4-year-olds in households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level.

Academic Performance and Graduation Rates

Once children enter school, performance on exams is a measure of learning. Passing rates on key state exams in 2023 were below 2019 pre-pandemic rates, with 32% of 3rd graders proficient in reading and 38% of 8th graders proficient in math. Females slightly outperformed males by 3 points in reading and were about par on math. High school graduation rates have risen 4 percentage points from 2012, with 88% of the Class of 2022 graduating on time. Performance was also more even across groups, with all groups posting graduation rates of at least 80%. However, entering college students show signs of not being fully prepared.

Adult Education and Preparedness

Adult education levels are rising, with 88% of Arkansans 25 and older holding at least a high school degree, up 2 percentage points from 2013-17 and up 13 percentage points from 2000. Those possessing a bachelor’s or higher degree (25%) increased 3 percentage points from 2013-17 and up 8 points from 2000. However, Arkansas lags the nation on these measures: 42nd for high school diploma and 49th for a bachelor’s degree. For those adults without a post-secondary degree, some continue to work toward one.

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Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) Program

Patrick J. Dr. Wolf coauthored a new report this month on Arkansas’ Education Freedom Accounts program, which found the program had a “strong second year” with growth in participation and encouraging indicators on student performance while remaining “fiscally modest” relative to the state’s K-12 budget and spending. According to Dr. Wolf, students are thriving in this school choice program. In the second year, about three-quarters of the students used their EFAs to support private schooling. Parents are clearly happy with the education that their children received through the diverse set of 126 private schools in the program this past year. The renewal rate for the Education Freedom Accounts from the second to the third year was a phenomenal 91 percent. The high renewal rate is especially encouraging because it suggests that these students can experience the benefits of a sustained and consistent school choice experience without the disruption of frequently switching schools.

Parents want lots of options, good information upfront, and a purchasing platform that is easy to navigate. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and its contractors have provided that, to parents’ great satisfaction. The message from the detailed purchasing data is that parents are spending EFA dollars on core educational products and services. For the homeschoolers, that means educational supplies, à la carte course tuition, curriculum, and lab equipment.

The program is serving two different types of students: Those who switched from public schools or would have attended them absent the program and those who already were in private/homeschools or would have attended them regardless of the existence of the program. The funding structure reflects this universal commitment while acknowledging differences across sectors: district-run schools receive the highest per-pupil funding, public charter schools receive somewhat less, and private and homeschool students receive the lowest level of support. For the current year of universal program eligibility, the preliminary enrollment numbers suggest that the state will spend 7.5% of its total K12 funds on the nearly 10% of the Arkansas student population that is in the EFA program.

The Arkansas law prohibits government officials from enacting any rule or regulation that would impinge on the identity and autonomy of private schools.

Disadvantaged students received the advantage of first movers. The first and second years of the program, only students entering kindergarten were universally eligible for an EFA. The most common qualifying condition those first two years was being a student with a disability. Students with disabilities are flocking to this program and represented 36% of enrollment the second year. The fact that EFA funds can be used for school-related transportation also helps to promote equity and access. EFA students averaged above the national median in both math and reading. The scores reveal, quite literally, that the average student participating in the school choice program is performing at a level substantially higher than the national norm. The fact that, in its second year, the program continued to target students with markers of special need - with over one-third of participants having disabilities - and yet the group still performed above the norm suggests that these outcomes are not simply the result of student selection. These students are genuinely thriving.

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Pre-K R.I.S.E. Early Literacy Initiative and the LEARNS Act 237 of 2023

Arkansas is in the third year of the Pre-K R.I.S.E. Early Literacy Initiative that provides the LETRS for Early Childhood Educators professional learning to publicly funded preschool educators to deepen their knowledge of foundational literacy instruction. The sharpened focus on early literacy in Arkansas with the LEARNS Act 237 of 2023 supports expanding the focus on Early Childhood Education by providing high quality instructional materials, regional technical assistance, and coaching, as well as professional development that is evidence based and grounded in the science of reading. As a result of the new legislation, Arkansas created the Office of Early Childhood, which unifies the Arkansas early childhood system under the Arkansas Department of Education. Also, in December 2022, Arkansas was awarded a federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) three-year renewal grant for $12 million. The state is using the funding to provide additional support for enhancement of infant and toddler care, family engagement and trauma informed care for children ages three to five.

Child Well-being and Socioeconomic Factors

Arkansas ranks 45th in child well-being, according to the 2024 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how kids are faring in post-pandemic America. Since before the pandemic, very little has improved in terms of outcomes for children in Arkansas, and some outcomes have gotten worse. According to the rankings, one of the outcomes that has worsened is the number of teenagers ages 16-19 that are neither in school nor working (11% in 2022, up from 7% in 2019). Also, child and teen deaths in Arkansas increased 26% from 2019 to 2022. Fortunately, Arkansas did see improvements in the Family and Community domain. For example, we have a smaller percentage of children in single-parent families (36% in 2022, down from 37% in 2019), a smaller percentage of children living in high-poverty areas (11% in 2018-22, down from 14% in 2013-17). Our teen birth rate improved, with 25 teen births per 1,000 in 2022, compared to 30 per 1,000 in 2019.

Arkansas’s reading and math proficiencies have been of concern for many years at Arkansas Advocates. They are a symptom of our state’s overall poverty and underinvestment in our public schools. Arkansas’s overall rank is 45, with an Economic Well-Being rank of 46, an Education rank of 36, a Health rank of 47, and a Family and Community rank of 46. Arkansas’s outcomes were worse than the national average in 13 out of the 16 indicators.

The Casey Foundation report contends that the pandemic is not the sole cause of lower test scores. Educators, researchers, policymakers and employers who track students’ academic readiness have been ringing alarm bells for a long time. Scores in reading and math have barely budged in decades. These declines will result in major harm to the nation’s economy and to our youth as they join the workforce. Economic activity hinges on helping young people overcome learning loss caused by the pandemic. Students who don’t advance beyond lower levels of math are more likely to be unemployed after high school. One analysis calculates the drop in math scores between 2019 and 2022 will reduce lifetime earnings by 1.6% for 48 million pandemic-era students, for a total of $900 billion in lost income.

Strategies for Improvement

The 2024 KIDS COUNT® Data Book recommends the following strategies for improvement:

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Expand access to intensive tutoring for students who are behind in their classes and missing academic milestones. Research has shown the most effective tutoring is in person, high dosage and tied directly to the school.
States and school systems should address chronic absence, so more students return to learn. While few states gather and report chronic absence data by grade, all of them should. Improving attendance tracking and data will inform future decision-making.
Policymakers should invest in community schools, public schools that provide wraparound support to kids and families.
Invest in early childhood education so that kids are prepared for the rigors of K-12 and expand access to out-of-school programs that reinforce lessons taught in school in safe and supportive environments.
Invest public dollars in programs that make and keep kids healthy.

Resources for Parents and Educators

Parents and educators in Arkansas will find lots of good information about Arkansas schools. This site gives information about the Arkansas Parent Teacher Association. The Department of Education’s mission and goals are provided in this site. There are sections specifically for educators and administrators which contains information on state and local initiatives, funding opportunities, lesson plans and other resources, as well as information on No Child Left Behind and school performance. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, is designed to help implement and maintain public school choice programs.

ADI works with families, schools, and communities to ensure that children may become self-directed learners, avid readers, and responsible citizens. The Families-Schools link contains resources for parents and schools on many aspects of parental involvement in education. Resources, materials, and examples of effective practices of after school programs can be found on this web site. CASEL works to advance the science and evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning (SEL) for preschool through highschool. The Colorado Parent Information and Resource Center, which is funded by the Department of Education, produces this web page. There is a section specifically for educators under Resources. Reading Rockets, a multimedia initiative of PBS station WETA has launched this web site created specifically for Spanish-speaking parents to help their children learn to read in English. It features illunstrations and entertaining video clips. Links and resources for educators can be found at this site on a variety of subjects. This site spotlights articles each month related to parental involvement. Besides information about membership in FINE, educators can access past issues of the monthly newsletter, as well as publications dealing with family involvement in education. The George Lucas Educational Foundation provides parents with articles, research summaries, video clips, and resources to support their involvement in their child’s education. Harvard Family Research Project offers many suggestions for books and articles of interest. This site analyzes school test data to identify how well individual schools are performing, and to determine best practices by studying the highest-performing schools. This site features a collection of resources on how parents, students, and educators can keep schools safer.

Children are more successful when their families are involved in their education. One of your roles as a parent is to make sure that your child receives the best education possible. This site has great resources for educators. This web site has information for educators and parents on learning disabilities and ADHD. The National Center for Family Literacy services include professional development for practitioners who work in children’s education, adult education, English as a Second Language, and related literacy fields; and the Family Literacy Alliance, a membership program. Contains free online resources for literacy programs. The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education is dedicated to developing effective family/school partnerships in schools throughout America. Information about the National Parent Teacher Association can be located here. This site contains information about PTA’s history, current legislative activity, programs that the PTA is involved with, links to state PTA groups and other child advocacy organizations, as well as discussion groups. The Partnership for Reading offers information about the effective teaching of reading for children, adolescents, and adults, based on the evidence from quality research. public schools. Information on individual schools can be viewed, as well as comparison data and searches for better performing schools and schools that meet specific criteria.

Factors Influencing Parental Involvement

School Practices

Parents were asked about seven different school information practices. Parents were asked about seven different school practices. was placed in particular groups or classes. regularly assigned school or a school that the parent chose. of choice, the school was catagorized as a chosen school. thought to be related to school practices. The frequency of family involvement and the frequency of family involvement.

Parental Education Level

was parents' education level. are more critical of schools than less educated parents. a college degree) viewed educators as equals to themselves. relationship to the school staff as equals. expertise and a higher status than themselves.

Grade Level

school practices by the grade level of the child. to parents of children in higher grades. grade level increases. more neglectful of the needs of older children and families. grade levels is teachers' beliefs about child development. actions in school. home learning. older students do not want their parents to be involved.

Race/Ethnicity

to race/ethnicity. child. of other children. children of "other" races or ethnic groups. of Hispanic and black children. done and in their evaluations of specific practices.

Community Characteristics

urbanized area, or a rural area. student, and community characteristics.

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