The View from the OEP Blog
Fall Happenings at OEP
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas and we have several upcoming events! The department, which houses OEP, was established in the...
ATLAS Year 2: Proficiency Progress
by Denise Airola It is Year 2 for Arkansas Teaching, Learning, and Assessment System (ATLAS) results for Grades 3 through High School. In an earlier blog we noted celebrations for overall increases...
How Are Arkansas Students Doing? 2025 ATLAS Results Are In!
How Are Arkansas Students Doing? 2025 ATLAS Results Are In! Arkansas released ATLAS summative assessment scores to school districts this week. This marks the first year we can measure student...
Explaining the 2025 Arkansas Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program
By Josh B. McGee The LEARNS Act (Act 237 of the 2023 Regular Session) established the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program—commonly known as Merit Pay—to recognize and reward Arkansas’s outstanding...
2024–25 Arkansas Teacher Retention: Statewide Stability Amid Ongoing Local Challenges
by: Josh McGee, Roy McKenzie, and Gema Zamarro
The Principal Principle: How School Leadership Shapes Academic Success
by Ashley Daniel From my 20 years as a district-level administrator, I have witnessed firsthand how essential effective school leadership is to a school’s success, especially a strong principal....
It’s Mid-May Already! Time to Finish the School Year Well
By Denise Airola State testing closes this Friday, marking the end of the first full year under the ATLAS assessment system. For many educators, that final click of the submit button signals more...
Chronic Absenteeism: Showing Up is Half the Battle
By Kim Shaw Learning loss, decreased test scores, and diminished classroom engagement are just a few of the post-Covid-19 pandemic K-12 student outcomes that continue to make headlines. As schools...
Don’t Leave Working Arkansas Families Behind: What’s at Stake with Proposed Head Start Cuts
By Hannah Denker When it comes to helping Arkansas families work and thrive, Head Start and Early Head Start programs play an essential role, especially in rural communities where child care options...
Arkansas’s New System for Grading Public Schools
Arkansas has a new formula for grading schools. It was shared privately with districts last week—but due to a new state law, the public won’t see new grades until next year unless a school or...
The Arkansas Teacher Merit Pay Program: A Game-Changer for Educators!
The Arkansas Teacher Merit Pay Program: A Game-Changer for Educators! By Ashley Daniel Big news for educators across Arkansas: the LEARNS Act has officially established and implemented the Merit...
Supporting Arkansas’s Early Childhood Workforce: Progress, Challenges, and What’s Next
by Hannah Denker We took a look at the newly released 2024 Early Childhood Workforce Index to see how Arkansas stacks up—and where we might go from here. The early childhood workforce in Arkansas...
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