The Department of Education Reform’s Office for Education Policy recently gathered with policymakers, school leaders and other stakeholders for a day-long symposium focused on education policy in Arkansas.

Presentations covered teacher merit pay, four-day school weeks, chronic absenteeism and more. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined Sarah McKenzie, executive director of Office for Education Policy, and Josh McGee, Endowed Chair in Education Transparency and Accountability, for a fireside chat midday. The conversation revolved around topics like the LEARNS Act, phone-free schools, the teacher pipeline and the future of Arkansas’ workforce.

The Office for Education Policy, a research unit in the U of A College of Education and Health Professions that seeks to help the state’s education leaders and lawmakers bridge the gap between research and practice, hosts annual conferences to share research on K-12 issues and discuss education. This year's event — LEARNing, Full Speed Ahead: What Progress Have We Made So Far? — was held on Dec. 11 in Little Rock.

The approximately 200 guests included legislators and representatives from diverse groups involved in Arkansas education — such as state Board of Education members and Secretary Jacob Oliva from the Arkansas Department of Education — and stakeholders from early childhood, K-12, higher education and several non-profit organizations.

During the fireside chat with Sanders, she noted that education has been her number one priority as governor because it’s fundamental to a person’s success.

“If somebody doesn’t have access to a good education, we’re frankly setting them up for failure,” Sanders said. “In Arkansas I think that every student should not only have access to education but access to quality education. And I believe that every single child has the ability to learn, given the right tools, the right environment and the right opportunity to do so.”

She said the state is starting to see the positive impact of its recent efforts to improve education, and she hears from teachers and others every day about how it has made their lives better. “If you look at all the statistics, Arkansas was basically 48th, 49th and 50th in every category. If we wanted to see something really different — which everyone in this room does and did — we had to do something pretty drastic. That’s what Arkansas LEARNS brought to the table — a total flip of the table and a transformative look at how we approach education.”

LEARNS raised the minimum public school teacher salary from $36,000 a year to $50,000 and ensured raises for all teachers last year. Sanders discussed several lesser-known parts of the law, such as teachers receiving up to 12 weeks of maternity leave, which helps schools recruit and retain educators. She also mentioned merit pay of up to $10,000 and a student loan repayment program for teachers. The state has also hired 120 literacy coaches to work one-on-one with students who need the most help across multiple districts.

The discussion also delved into the phone-free schools initiative the governor’s office launched in partnership with OEP. Over the summer, Sanders and McKenzie met with approximately 30 superintendents throughout the state to inquire about students' mental health. They all agreed there was a mental health crisis, and the phone-free grant program was born.

Within six weeks, 75 percent of districts had voluntarily opted into the phone-free grant program, which Sanders said showed her how desperate school officials are to help students and teachers. She said the state is happy to be “the bad guy” that prohibits phones. McKenzie said the Office for Education Policy is doing research on the participating schools.

“It’s very bold and exciting, and no research has been done like this anywhere in the country before,” she said. The Office for Education Policy has since surveyed 13,000 students to gauge their mental health before and after the program. The office is also conducting focus groups across the state to discuss the issue.

Sanders said the Bentonville School District started the phone-free program a year before the initiative was announced. Early findings show that the district saw a 51 percent drop in verbal and physical aggression in one year. There was also a 57 eprcent drop in drug offenses in the schools.

McKenzie hosted a session at the conference dedicated to the phone-free initiative. Other presenters included Denise Airola, associate director of OEP who specializes in using analytics and statistical modeling to shape education policy aimed at improving outcomes for all learners; Hannah Denker, a research assistant professor in the Office for Education Policy who is dedicated to analyzing the early care and education landscape in Arkansas; Karli Saracini, assistant commissioner for the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Educator Effectiveness and Licensure; Molly Michie, a senior research specialist with the Study of Early Education Through Partnerships at the University of Virginia, where she studies state and local efforts to increase access to high-quality early care and education; and Kathy Pillow-Price, director of the U of A College of Education and Health Professions outreach program Early Care and Education Projects.

The Office for Education Policy routinely provides assistance and consultation services to state policymakers, school district leaders and classroom teachers. For more information, sign up to receive the office's newsletter or subscribe to the blog via email.