Northwest Arkansas Students Outperform Natural State Peers

The 2015 Northwest Arkansas Report Card published by the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas shows Northwest Arkansas students outperform their peers in other regions of the state.

The annual publication to help Northwest Arkansas residents and newcomers better understand the educational performance of the region's schools was released last week.

Additionally, many school districts in Northwest Arkansas compare favorably to students in other areas of the United States.

The report pulls together information from a variety of publicly available resources, making it simple for educators, school administrators, parents and state lawmakers to see how schools are performing.

"The district 'dashboard' format makes the information easy to understand," said Sarah McKenzie, executive director for the University of Arkansas Office for Education Policy. "Parents, educators and policymakers should all take a look and ask, 'Where are we doing well and where do we need to improve?'

"One of the newest pieces is the comparison between Northwest Arkansas and a few metropolitan areas across the U.S," she continued. "We have always tried to make meaningful comparisons, and newly released data from Stanford University gets us one step closer."

The Northwest Arkansas Council is a partner in the report's publication because the region's companies are filling jobs with relocating executives from across the United States who want information about schools. Those moving to Northwest Arkansas want high-quality jobs, a good quality of life and assurances that their children will have good educational experiences, said Mike Malone, the council's president and CEO.

The 32-page Northwest Arkansas Report Card provides information about how students in 15 school districts and three charter schools are performing. There's information about enrollment growth, per pupil expenditures, average class sizes, high school graduation rates, students' test scores and student demographics. The report is available at on the Office for Education Policy website.

There are other education-focused reports available on the website that could be used for a more detailed evaluation of school districts.