M.l. King Elementary School, Little Rock AR

Original Research by School Decision on M.l. King Elementary School

M.L. King Elementary School sits in the heart of Little Rock, Arkansas’s capital and largest city, a place defined by state government, healthcare networks, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and a downtown River Market district. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, making it an entry point for families in the central part of the city. It is a regular public school in the Little Rock School District, not a charter or magnet.

Academically, the most concrete picture comes from state assessment results for grades three, four, and five in math, English language arts, and science. Across every tested grade and subject, proficiency rates were low. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages these results, placed it in the lowest group relative to other districts in Pulaski County. For a family considering the school, these numbers point to a significant academic challenge. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its strategies for raising achievement, what interventions are in place for students who are below grade level, and how the school measures growth beyond the single snapshot of a state test. Because the school only goes through fifth grade, there are no high school outcomes such as a graduation rate to consider.

The student body is modest in size for an elementary school. The great majority of students are Black, with a small number of white, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A very high share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator that many families face economic strain. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available from the source used here, so a parent should verify directly with the school what support is available for those populations. No information on chronic absenteeism or discipline was reported, either.

The school building is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Little Rock. The city itself offers a mix of amenities: the Arkansas River Trail, the Clinton Presidential Center, Pinnacle Mountain State Park, and the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. Housing in the school’s immediate zip code is moderately priced relative to the state and national benchmarks, and rents are similarly moderate. Little Rock’s economy is anchored by large employers such as UAMS, Dillard’s, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and state government, and the city has seen modest population growth in recent years.

For a parent weighing options, M.L. King Elementary serves a community with clear economic needs and produces academic results that are low compared to peers in the county. The school offers no test data for its pre-kindergarten through second-grade students, so those early years are harder to assess from public records. A family that chooses this school will want to be actively engaged with the staff to understand how the school is working to lift student performance and what enrichment or support programs exist beyond the tested curriculum.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 30% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 44%

School 4% · District 33% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 30% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 34%

School 4% · District 28% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 33% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 29% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 28% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 412%

School 12% · District 32% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 26% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolLITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.