Little Rock, Arkansas – The Arkansas Department of Education has released its latest letter grades for school districts and individual schools, giving families a new look at academic performance across the state during the 2025-26 school year.
The grades are part of Arkansas’ statewide accountability system, which looks at several measures when evaluating schools and districts. Those measures include student achievement, academic growth and preparation for college and careers.
The newest results show a shift in the number of districts receiving the highest grades. According to the Arkansas Department of Education, 23 more districts received an A or B this year compared with the previous year. At the same time, 12 fewer districts received a D or F.
For the 2025-26 school year, 26 districts received an A, while 114 received a B. Another 88 districts received a C. Seventeen districts received a D, and nine received an F.
The department also pointed to improvement among districts that had received the lowest rating last year. Several districts that were given an F in the previous school year improved enough to receive higher grades in the latest round of results.
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Arkansas has been using its current accountability system for three years. It was introduced as part of the Arkansas LEARNS education law, which established a new framework for measuring school performance and tracking academic progress.
State officials said the latest letter grades, combined with ATLAS assessment results released earlier this year, indicate that academic outcomes have improved in several areas across Arkansas.
“When we passed Arkansas LEARNS, we promised to raise the bar for our schools and give every child the opportunity for success,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “Three years later, the results continue to speak for themselves: test scores are up, and more school districts are improving than falling behind.”
The state also reported progress at the individual school level. Fewer schools received D or F ratings this year than in the previous school year, according to the education department.
School improvement efforts include several programs designed to provide additional support to students and educators. ADE said literacy coaches, individual reading and math plans and high-impact tutoring are among the initiatives being used to help schools improve their results.
The district grades are also intended to give parents and community members a simpler way to understand how their local schools are performing. This is only the second year that Arkansas has assigned letter grades directly to school districts.
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While a single letter does not provide every detail about a school or district, the state’s accountability system uses multiple measures to produce the ratings. Families can also look beyond the overall grade to review additional information about individual schools.
The Arkansas Department of Education has made the results available through its My School Info website. The online system features redesigned report cards that use color-coded ratings and allow users to compare schools.
The website also includes video explanations intended to help parents understand the information presented in the report cards.
The release of the 2025-26 grades gives Arkansas families another set of statewide data to consider as they look at school performance. It also provides districts with information that can be used to identify areas where additional work or support may be needed.
For districts that improved from D or F ratings, the new results mark a change from the previous school year. Meanwhile, districts receiving A, B or C grades will continue to be measured under the same accountability framework in future years.
The education department’s latest figures show that the majority of Arkansas districts received grades in the A, B or C categories. The state said the overall results, together with the latest assessment data, point to continued changes in academic performance since the current accountability system was introduced.
Families can access their local district and school information through the ADE’s My School Info website, where the department has posted the latest report cards and additional explanations of the grading system.
