by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

Arkansas ranked 43rd in the 2023 Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data Book, which measures child well-being across four domains: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.

The state ranked ahead of four of its adjoining states in this 34th edition of the study: Texas (44th), Oklahoma (46th), Mississippi (48th) and Louisiana (49th). Missouri was 28th and Tennessee was 36th.

Arkansas ranked 37th in the report’s education domain. Seventy percent of the state’s fourth-graders were not proficient in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2022, compared to 69% in 2019. That was slightly worse than the national averages of 68% in 2022 and 66% in 2019.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/06/arkansas-43rd-in-latest-kids-count-study-of-child-well-being/