Click here to read the Arkansas Education Report
Click here to read the Policy Brief
Early childhood care and education (ECE) is essential for Arkansas’s children, families, and workforce. But are we meeting the need? And how can we tell if we’re making progress?
For the first time, Arkansas now has a comprehensive baseline set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to answer these questions. These indicators track access, quality, and the workforce across the state’s early childhood system. They provide a clear picture of where things stand today and a way to measure progress in the years ahead.
Why a KPI Report?
The new KPI framework, developed by the Office for Education Policy in partnership with state leaders, establishes a data-driven foundation for decision-making.
By focusing on three areas—access, quality, and workforce—this report helps policymakers, providers, and families see where the system is working well and where gaps remain.
What the Data Show
- Access: Many Families Still Lack Options
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- Arkansas has 1,751 licensed or registered providers, but capacity is still insufficient to meet potential demand. If every provider operated at full capacity, they still couldn’t serve the approximately 137,400 children under age six with working parents.
- At most, about 44% of income-eligible children under six are enrolled in publicly funded programs like Arkansas Better Chance (ABC), Head Start, or School Readiness Assistance (SRA). That leaves tens of thousands of eligible children unserved.
- Affordability is a major barrier. Full-time infant care in a center costs around $9,600 per year—16% of the median Arkansas household income. High-quality programs can cost much more, consuming about 26% of a typical family’s income.
- Quality: Uneven Participation in Better Beginnings
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- About 78% of licensed providers participate in Better Beginnings, the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System.
- Most providers are concentrated in the middle tiers (Levels 2–3), while fewer than 15% have reached the top levels (5–6).
- While some Family Child Care Homes and Community-Based Centers are rated in the top Better Beginnings tiers, Head Start and school-based programs have the largest share of providers in the higher tiers, likely reflecting their stricter standards.
- Workforce: Wages and Turnover Remain Big Challenges
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- Arkansas child care workers earn a median annual wage of about $27,000, while preschool teachers earn $30,100. That’s well below the statewide median of $42,200 for all workers, and far below K–12 teacher salaries.
- Low pay fuels turnover, creating instability for children and making it hard for providers to keep classrooms fully staffed, but we don’t currently have a consistent way to measure ECE teacher turnover in the state.
Why This Matters
Together, these indicators remind us that early childhood care and education is not just about classrooms, it’s about the future of Arkansas’s children and communities.
- Families struggle when they can’t find affordable, reliable care.
- Children benefit when programs are high-quality and staffed by stable, well-trained educators.
- The workforce depends on child care so parents can work, support their families, go to school, and contribute to their communities.
What’s Next?
The report points to several priorities for Arkansas policymakers and stakeholders:
- Expand publicly funded capacity so more eligible children can enroll.
- Make child care more affordable, including supports for families above current subsidy cutoffs.
- Stabilize the workforce by raising wages, supporting credentials, and reducing turnover.
- Leverage quality tools like Better Beginnings and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to strengthen programs statewide.
- Improve data systems to track waitlists, private-pay enrollment, provider capacity, and the workforce more accurately.
- Incorporate parent voice so policies reflect real family needs around hours, affordability, and trusted providers.
Final Thoughts
This is Arkansas’s first step toward tracking early childhood outcomes with the same rigor we bring to K–12 education. By updating these indicators annually through 2027, we can see whether investments are working, where gaps remain, and how to build a system that truly supports children, families, and educators.
The baseline shows both progress and challenges. Now, with better data and a thoughtful strategic plan, Arkansas has the opportunity to ensure every child has access to the care and education they need to thrive.