Elementary Schools in Little Rock School District

The Little Rock School District encompasses 27 elementary schools serving students from pre-K through 5th grade. The district exhibits a wide range of school performance, with several standout high-achieving schools as well as a number of chronically underperforming institutions.

At the top of the district, Jefferson Elementary School and Forest Park Elementary School consistently rank among the best elementary schools in Arkansas, with exceptional proficiency rates that exceed the state average by 20-30 percentage points. In contrast, schools like Stephens Elementary, Bale Elementary, and M.L. King Elementary struggle to reach even half the state's proficiency levels.

The data suggests that socioeconomic factors, as measured by free and reduced-price lunch rates, play a significant role in driving these performance disparities. Schools with the highest poverty levels tend to be the lowest-performing, while the top-tier schools have much lower rates of economically disadvantaged students. However, spending per student and student-teacher ratios do not appear to be the primary determinants of school quality, indicating that other factors like curriculum, instruction, leadership, and school culture likely play a larger role.