Little Rock School District

The Little Rock School District encompasses 33 schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools, and serves a diverse student population across the city of Little Rock, Arkansas.

The district is marked by a stark performance divide, often described as a "tale of two districts." On one side, schools like Jefferson Elementary School and Don Roberts Elementary School are top-tier performers, consistently earning 5-star ratings and ranking in the top 10% of the state. These schools, along with Forest Park Elementary School and Pinnacle View Middle School, serve communities with lower rates of students receiving free or reduced lunch. In contrast, many schools with very high poverty rates, such as Mabelvale Middle School and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership & Language Magnet Academy, rank in the bottom 1-5% of the state. This pattern shows that socioeconomic factors are the strongest predictor of school performance, with schools above a 95% free/reduced lunch rate almost universally struggling, regardless of spending levels.

Among high schools, Parkview Magnet High School stands out with a 94.1% graduation rate, while Little Rock Southwest High School faces significant challenges with a 72.1% graduation rate and a high dropout rate. Central High School, the district's largest, performs moderately. Magnet schools show mixed results: Forest Heights STEM Academy and Gibbs Magnet Elementary School are high-performing, while others like Carver STEAM Magnet Elementary School struggle. A notable data quirk is that some low-performing K-8 schools report 100% Algebra proficiency, but this is because only a small group of advanced students takes the test, not an indicator of overall math success.