The first report card numbers on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature education reform legislation, the LEARNS Act, are out, and the nation is taking notice.
The governor’s office released statistics on June 16 that back up the plan, a long-simmering subject for debate since it was passed in 2023. The numbers, from the 2026 statewide Arkansas Teaching, Learning and Assessment System (ATLAS) test, suggest LEARNS is moving the needle in the right direction when it comes to student performance.
“The 2026 ATLAS exam scores confirm what we’re hearing from educators across the Natural State: Arkansas LEARNS is working and students across Arkansas are doing better because of it,” Gov. Sanders said via the release. “We took education back to the basics to focus on what really matters, and our students’ success will power our state’s future for years to come.
“The message these scores send is clear: now is the time to double down on the successes of the LEARNS Act and continue to pursue the strategy we know is helping more students than ever before thrive.”
ATLAS statistics report proficiency across all subjects and grade levels has risen by more than 20 percent since 2024, from 35 percent to 42 percent. From the 2024 baseline year, proficiency in mathematics increased from 36.4 percent to 44.2 percent, proficiency in science increased from 35.6 percent to 44 percent and proficiency in English language arts increased from 33.8 percent to 39.5 percent.
Additionally, the number of students performing at the lowest levels decreased across all subjects, falling from an average of 27.9 percent in 2024 to 23.1 percent in 2026 – a 17 percent decrease. The percentage of students proficient in reading in the third grade, a critical benchmark that determines future educational success, increased from 35 percent in 2024 to 43 percent in 2026, a more than 18 percent increase.
Significantly, proficiency for K-2 students, who have all started school since the LEARNS Act was signed, tops 50 percent across all but one subject in one grade level and shows continued upward trends. English language arts proficiency in kindergarten alone has grown by 31 percent in just the last year, from 50.2 percent to 66 percent. K-2 proficiency lays solid groundwork for students’ future success and demonstrates the effectiveness of early intervention opportunities established in LEARNS.
“The thing we’re most excited about is the fact that so many Arkansas students are doing better now than they would have been doing pre-LEARNS legislation,” Sanders told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that appeared June 19.
“We want our kids to do well. We love the fact that kids in Arkansas are learning, that they’re moving up. The growth and achievement that we’re seeing from our kids is exactly what we want to happen.”
Sanders told Fox News Digital that she hopes LEARNS becomes the blueprint for other states to follow in their efforts to improve education.
“I’m hopeful absolutely that red states will use what we’re doing here as a blueprint, but I also hope that blue states will look at the success that you’re seeing in places like Arkansas, Mississippi and others and try to follow suit because we want all kids to do well,” Sanders told the outlet. “Seeing kids achieve and do better and be successful, that’s not a red state or blue state issue. That’s something everybody should care about.
“We know that raising the bar, providing those resources and support for our students, for our teachers, for our superintendents makes a difference. We’ve got a recipe here that’s working and absolutely hope it not only changes the conversation but frankly changes the system, changes the culture and education.”
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