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Legislative committee reviews combined state and federal school accountability briefing
Summary
Bureau of Legislative Research staff told the Joint Education Committee they combined state and federal accountability reports this cycle, reviewed Arkansas statutes and standards history, and flagged gaps in ESSA reporting and DESE calculations that need follow-up.
Bureau of Legislative Research staff presented a combined review of Arkansas's state and federal accountability systems to the Joint Committee on Education, outlining how current standards, assessments and reporting connect to the adequacy definition the legislature uses to evaluate K-12 education.
Leah Headley, a Bureau analyst, said the Bureau combined previously separate state and federal accountability reports and related student achievement information to meet requirements in the adequacy statute and to provide a single roadmap for review. "This cycle we've combined the state and federal accountability systems as well as student achievement reports with academic standards," Headley said.
The briefing traced the statutory development of Arkansas academic standards from the 1997 Public Education Act through the Quality Education Act of 2003 and the Educational Support and Accountability Act (Act 930) of 2017. Headley told members the Bureau would use those laws and related rules to report how the state defines and measures an "adequate" education.
Presenters highlighted several administrative and statutory changes that affect course offerings and how they are counted in state accountability. They noted that Act 853 (2015) altered the waiver and "considered taught" rules so that a course scheduled and staffed but with no enrolled students could still be treated as offered for accreditation purposes.
Staff also described recently enacted policy changes affecting career and technical education (CTE), including a 2023 requirement that high schools offer three programs of study and a 2025 revision setting implementation timelines through 2029 for updated CTE pathways. Those pathways include at least one designated as "high wage and high growth," as identified by the Division of Career and Technical Education.
The presentation closed with staff recommendations to follow up with the Department of Education (DESE) on missing or delayed public reporting items and to supply comparative historical charts members requested to track statutory changes and assessment trends over time. The Committee asked staff to request additional department documentation and to place DESE on a future agenda to respond to questions raised during the briefing.
The joint committee took no formal votes during the session; staff said they would provide the requested historical comparisons and department-supplied materials at a later meeting.
