Summary
Dr. Marian G. Lacey K-8 Academy in Little Rock, AR, serves 1,252 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade and is part of the Little Rock School District, a district ranked in the bottom 29% of Arkansas. The school faces significant challenges, with nearly all students (99.76%) qualifying for free or reduced lunch, and it currently ranks in the bottom 3% of elementary schools statewide, with overall proficiency rates in English Language Arts (15.8%), Reading (15.3%), Mathematics (14.7%), and Science (16.7%) all well below district and state averages.
One of the most concerning findings is a severe decline in 8th-grade Mathematics, where only 2.6% of students are proficient—a dramatic drop from 14.9% in 7th grade and far below the state average of 36.2%. This is a unique issue not seen at nearby schools like Exalt Academy Of Southwest Little Rock, which serves a similar population but achieves 15.1% proficiency in 8th-grade Math. Interestingly, the school's 8th-grade Algebra proficiency rate is 20.9%, matching the district average, but this only applies to a small, higher-performing group of students, leaving the majority struggling in standard math. The K-8 structure, intended to provide stability, does not appear to help; performance generally declines as students age, with ELA proficiency dropping from 24.5% in 3rd grade to just 11.9% in 8th grade.
Compared to other local schools, Lacey Academy is the lowest-performing in its vicinity across nearly every subject. For instance, Wakefield Elementary School achieves 21.5% in ELA and 30.6% in Math, while Landmark Elementary School reaches 34.1% in ELA and 30.1% in Math. The data suggests a systemic issue, particularly in the upper grades, where the school seems to lose its footing. While the school's challenges are significant, the comparison to Exalt Academy indicates that these struggles may be tied to specific instructional or administrative practices rather than solely the student population or K-8 model.
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