Arkansas

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Arkansas
Visitors walk past a makeshift memorial honoring those recently killed at Robb Elementary School, Tuesday, July 12, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. A Texas lawmaker says surveillance video from the school hallway where police waited as a gunman opened fire in a fourth-grade classroom will be shown this weekend to residents of Uvalde.
Visitors walk past a makeshift memorial on July 12, 2022, honoring those killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in a May 2022 school shooting. Nearly a year after the Uvalde shooting, lawmakers in Texas passed a bill requiring that every public school classroom have a panic alarm system.
Eric Gay/AP
School Climate & Safety Could Panic Buttons Save Lives in a School Shooting? More Schools Think So
There's legislative momentum to require panic alarm systems in schools. But many districts are installing the systems without a mandate.
Caitlynn Peetz, January 30, 2024
6 min read
High School Tutor Giving Male Student One To One instruction At Desk
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School & District Management Fitting Tutoring Into the School Day Is Hard. How 3 Principals Made It Work
Three principals persist with high-dosage tutoring, using creative strategies to fit it into busy school schedules.
Olina Banerji, January 24, 2024
6 min read
Illustration of completed tasks, accomplishment, finished checklist, achievement or project progression concept. Person holding pencil tick all completed task checkbox.
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School Choice & Charters As Private School Choice Grows, Critics Push for More Guardrails
Calls are growing for more scrutiny over where state funds for private school choice go and how students are faring in the classroom.
Mark Lieberman, January 16, 2024
7 min read
A young girl peeks over the books on a library shelf
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Reading & Literacy What Is Morphology? Should Teachers Include It in Reading Instruction?
Teaching about word parts—such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots—may help students develop their academic vocabularies.
Sarah Schwartz, November 22, 2023
8 min read
Photo of girl reading superimposed with Arkansas state flag.
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Social Studies Arkansas Says AP African American Studies No Longer Counts for High School Credit
The state's decision follows Florida's banning the course earlier this year.
Ileana Najarro, August 14, 2023
5 min read
Photo of boy in front of white board with math problem.
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Mathematics 7 States Now Require Math Support for Struggling Students. Here's What's in the New Laws
They focus on providing PD, diagnostic tools, and evidence-based teaching. But it will take time to work out the details.
Sarah Schwartz, August 9, 2023
7 min read
Illustration of woman and steps made of cash.
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Teaching Profession Teachers in 6 States Will Get Raises. More Could Join Them
Lawmakers in 23 states proposed bills to raise teacher salaries, but not all of the policies are straightforward pay bumps.
Libby Stanford, June 22, 2023
5 min read
A parent and child looking at 2 different schools
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School Choice & Charters 6 More States Will Soon Let Almost All Students Attend Private School With Public Money
So far this year, 14 states passed laws and lawmakers in 42 states introduced bills to expand private school choice.
Libby Stanford, June 15, 2023
7 min read
Equity & Diversity Video How LGBTQ+ Students Find Community and Comfort Outside of School
In Arkansas, 3 of every 4 LGBTQ+ teens report experiencing discrimination at school. This after-school art program offers a safe space.
Lauren Santucci, June 15, 2023
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Protesters cheer outside Senate chambers at the Indiana Statehouse on March 22, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana schools may soon be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school, after state Senators on April 10, 2023, advanced a bill that some worry could out transgender kids to their parents.
Protesters cheer at the Indiana Statehouse on March 22, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana schools may soon be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school, after state lawmakers advanced a bill that some advocates worry could out transgender kids to their parents.
Arleigh Rodgers/AP
Equity & Diversity Pronouns for Trans, Nonbinary Students: The States With Laws That Restrict Them in Schools
Under the laws, teachers aren’t required to use trans or nonbinary students’ requested pronouns.
Eesha Pendharkar, June 14, 2023
7 min read
Close up shot of some money overlapping a partial paystub revealing some blurred numbers and the words Total Pay, Taxes, and Deductions.
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Teaching Profession Lawmakers Target How Teachers’ Unions Collect Dues
Teachers often opt to have union dues deducted from their paychecks. Republicans in some states are fighting to change that.
Madeline Will, April 6, 2023
8 min read
Arkansas Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers a question while taking part in a panel discussion during a Republican Governors Association conference, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers a question while taking part in a panel discussion during a Republican Governors Association conference, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Huckabee Sanders is hoping to increase starting teacher salaries to $50,000 under her new plan Arkansas LEARNS.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
Teaching Profession Teacher Pay Raise Proposals Are Gaining Bipartisan Support. What's in Them?
More conservative governors are signing onto teacher pay raises, a cause that's typically been championed by Democrats.
Libby Stanford, March 2, 2023
8 min read
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivering his State of the State address at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., on Jan. 10, 2023. Murphy announced the expansion of the AP African American Studies course to 26 schools across the state next school year a few weeks after Florida’s ban.
Matt Rourke/AP
Social Studies AP African American Studies: How Other States Are Responding After Florida's Ban
These are the states that have taken a stance on the AP African American Studies course.
Eesha Pendharkar, February 23, 2023
7 min read
Kim King, an art teacher at Mansfield Elementary School in Mansfield, Conn., works with Ainsley Liebster, a pre-k student in her choice-based art class, on Feb. 13, 2023.
Kim King, an art teacher at Mansfield Elementary School in Storrs Mansfield, Conn., works with Ainsley Liebster, a pre-K student in her choice-based art class in February.
Christopher Capozziello for Education Week
Teaching 5 Ways to Inspire a Love for Learning in Students
Education researchers and classroom teachers weigh in on what works.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 21, 2023
6 min read