Arkansas Student Scores Improve After State Rejected DEI and Focused on Fundamentalshttps://legalinsurrection.com/2026/06/arkansas-student-scores-improve-after-state-rejected-dei-and-focused-on-fundamentals/Arkansas children have shown significant improvement in their education on the statewide exam, the Arkansas Teaching, Learning, and Assessment System (ATLAS), since the state passed the LEARNS Act in 2023, offering a blueprint for other states.
“The 2026 ATLAS exam scores confirm what we’re hearing from educators across the Natural State: Arkansas LEARNS is working and students across Arkansas are doing better because of it. We took education back to the basics to focus on what really matters, and our students’ success will power our state’s future for years to come,” boasted Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “The message these scores send is clear: now is the time to double down on the successes of the LEARNS Act and continue to pursue the strategy we know is helping more students than ever before thrive.”
The proficiency numbers are fantastic. Everything has gone up since 2024:
* Proficiency across all subjects and grade levels: +20% from 25% to 42%
* Math: 36.4% to 44.2%
* Science: 35.6% to 44%
* English language arts: 33.8% to 39.5%
Other stats:
* Students performing at the lowest levels: -17% from 27.9% to 23.1%
* Students proficient in reading in the third grade: +18% from 35% to 43%
* Proficiency for K-2 students: tops 50% in all but one subject in one grade level
* Kindergarten English language arts: +31% from 50.2% to 66%
First Mississippi, now Arkansas? Horrors! More seriously, this is "just" the fruit of a mere 2-3 years of focus of teaching fundamentals instead of time-wasting mind-wasting socio-political male bovine feces.
A personal note ... when in the mid 1980s we decided to homeschool our munchkins, we did so to give them a solid academic education. We knew public schools, at the time, varied considerably, and the trends were not good. I, at least, knew the damage a single year of a teacher following his/her agenda instead of teaching what they were supposed to teach could do. 40 years later, we are very happy with the fruit of our "K-12" efforts. What we did NOT foresee was that PSs' downward progress would continue to the degree that a person capable of reading fluently would become almost part of an
adequately educated elite.
