In December 2019, WestEd partnered with Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates to produce an education finance study for the State of Arkansas. The study was designed to “provide to the members of the Arkansas General Assembly detailed and accurate information concerning the current efficacy of the biennial adequacy study and evaluation undertaken by the Committees, and to provide the Committees with recommendations regarding reform or replacement of the current methods for determining educational adequacy in the State of Arkansas.”

The wide-ranging study addressed over thirty topic areas including:

  • The equity and adequacy of the current resource matrix used to establish school and district funding
  • Student performance and poverty and achievement gaps
  • Staff attraction and retention
  • The impacts of district, school, and class size
  • How the state should define what it means for graduates to be college and career ready

This report, completed in December 2020, describes the study’s findings and provides a set of seven recommendations to the State of Arkansas that reflect the study’s body of work.

Arkansas School Finance Study appendices are also available.