LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Grading data from Arkansas’s school index and rating report shows that some charter schools in Arkansas are progressively underperforming.
Tiffani Grayer, coordinator of School Performance and Monitoring at the Arkansas Department of Education, presented before the state’s charter authorizing panel and showed that in 2023, 46% of all charter schools were at a D and F.
These numbers included both open enrollment and district conversion charter schools, which are publicly funded.
Grayer noted that based on the information, most of the support is needed at the elementary level.
In fact, 2023 data shows that 63% of charter elementary schools received a D or F grade.
“That could also be an effect of the pandemic if you think about the students that missed the instructional time, that was really at the elementary level,” Grayer said. “When we are thinking, what do students need, what do schools need, this is where I really think we need to hone in our efforts.”
April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, noted that the grading for schools is flawed because there are some things that educators are not able to control.
“When a student goes to take a benchmark test at the end of the year and that student had a hard night of sleep the night before or didn’t get an adequate hot breakfast that morning, they’re not going to test well,” Reisma said. “That is out of the control of an educator.”
However, Reisma noted that the information gathered from the state’s grading should “raise some red flags” and said the Arkansas Department of Education should investigate why the schools were underperforming.
“Let’s not just brush it off as something that you may think is wrong,” Reisma said. “Whether it be on the child’s side maybe they just need something to eat to be able to learn or maybe it’s on the administrative side.”
You can watch the full meeting below:
