In 2003, the Arkansas state Legislature passed Act 35, which instructed the state Board of Education to develop standards to measure the performance of schools and students in the state.

The idea was that, through testing, the state could measure how well students are learning and how well schools are doing their jobs. Gains or setbacks could be tracked so schools would be rewarded for meeting certain marks and sanctioned for falling behind.

Based on student performance, schools would be ranked from Level 1 to Level 5:

• Level 1: Schools in Need of Immediat...

Log-In to view full story or view our Registration Guide.