The Availability And Use Of Public School Facilities For Community Education In Arkansas PDF Download

This report details the status of charter school facilities in the state of Arkansas. In the Spring of 2013, the Arkansas Public School Resource Center, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools worked to collect evidence that would accurately portray both the degree to which Arkansas open enrollment charter school facilities were sufficient and the average amount of operating funds spent on facilities. Collectively, the results described in this report provide evidence that open enrollment charter school students in Arkansas do not have access to the same facilities and facilities-related special program amenities compared to traditional public school students in the state. In order to ensure that the policy recommendations of this report are research-based and supported by reliable data, Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. consulted on the project to provide a set of reasonable expectations for school facilities' size and amenities. Given the alignment of the Facilities Initiative and the goals and data needs of the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) Charter Schools Program (CSP), ED procured additional state surveys, including Arkansas. The National Charter School Resource Center at American Institutes for Research (AIR) has been subcontracting with the Colorado League of Charter Schools to collect the research and data on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education since October of 2011. To date, AIR has subcontracted for the data collection and research of charter school facilities in seven states: Arkansas, Idaho (ED561933), Massachusetts (ED561929), Michigan (ED561921), New Jersey (ED561926), Rhode Island (ED561925), and South Carolina (ED561927). This report is based on facilities survey and measurement data plus enrollment and operating revenue data collected for the 2012-2013 school year. The results presented in this report are based on data from 100 percent of Arkansas brick and mortar charter schools. Appended are: (1) Methodology; and (2) School Facility Standards.