Data-Driven Education Journalism for the Natural State
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Arkansas, grounded in Arkansas Department of Education data.
Asian students in Arkansas reached a 96.3% graduation rate in 2024, gaining 5.4 points since 2016, the largest improvement of any racial group.
Alpena cut chronic absenteeism from 26% to under 10% across two consecutive years while 87% of Arkansas districts got worse. The rural district now outperforms its own pre-COVID baseline.
Nearly 30% of Arkansas districts report exactly 95.0% graduation rates, a data suppression artifact that hides true performance.
While Arkansas's statewide chronic absence rate lurched from 14% to 27%, 33 districts kept their rates below 20% in every single measured year — including the COVID spike.
Economically disadvantaged students in Arkansas graduate at 86.9%, just 2.1 points below the state average, one of the narrowest income gaps in the nation.
Lincoln School District pairs every student with a mentor and operates on a 4-day week. The data confirms it works: chronic absence is back to its pre-COVID level of 9.3%.
Little Rock School District graduates 82.3% of students, up from 80.0% in 2022. Suburban Bryant, 20 minutes south, hits 96.2%.
While 87% of Arkansas districts saw chronic absenteeism worsen in 2024, Hoxie cut its rate in half over five years — the only district to improve in every measured period.
The white-Black graduation gap in Arkansas shrank from 7.7 to 5.5 points over nine years, driven by Black students gaining 3.6 points.
West Memphis cut chronic absenteeism from 22% to 5% in five years, while Arkansas's statewide rate climbed to a record 27.7%.
Only 19 of 240 Arkansas districts improved chronic absenteeism in two consecutive years. They span every geography and every size. Here's what they share.
Arkansas graduates 89% of students, 2 points above the national average, with gains across every racial subgroup since 2016.
Magazine School District adopted a continuous calendar before COVID and has since recovered faster than nearly any district in Arkansas, cutting chronic absence from 36% to 9%.
Pine Bluff was taken over by the state for failing schools. Under new leadership, the district has cut chronic absenteeism from 19% to 11% and won back local control.
In 2023-24, Arkansas hit a record 27.7% chronic absence rate and 87% of districts got worse. These 30 districts went the other direction.
