Arkansas public school students have posted their sharpest proficiency gains in recent memory under Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' 2023 LEARNS Act, with overall proficiency climbing more than seven percentage points in three years — results Sanders is now pitching as a replicable model for states across the political spectrum.

What the Data Shows

The numbers Sanders released are not marginal. Overall student proficiency hit 42.2% in 2026, up from 36.9% in 2025. Mathematics proficiency rose from 36.4% in 2024 to 44.2% in 2026, science moved from 35.6% to 44.0%, and English language arts climbed from 33.8% to 39.5% over the same period. The share of students performing at the lowest levels fell from an average of 27.3% in 2025 to 23.1% in 2026, which matters as much as the top-line gains — compression at the bottom tends to be the harder policy problem to solve.

The most striking signal may be among the youngest cohort. Students in kindergarten through second grade — the first group educated entirely under the reformed curriculum — exceeded 50% proficiency in nearly every subject and grade level, suggesting the structural changes are taking root rather than producing a one-cycle statistical bounce.

What the LEARNS Act Actually Changed

The legislation combined several levers simultaneously: it raised the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, introduced performance-based bonuses, strengthened literacy support, and funded school safety initiatives. It also banned instruction related to critical race theory, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexually explicit materials. Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva credited the approach to listening to teachers, administrators, and parents — arguing that the research-backed urgency behind the law made the difference.

Sanders herself frames the gains as the product of alignment rather than any single policy change. "Not any one thing, but it's the collective process of really transforming the way that we approach education," she said.

The National Argument Sanders Is Making

The governor's broader claim — that Arkansas offers a transferable blueprint — lands in a politically charged environment where Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and prominent teachers' union officials, have criticized conservative state education policies. Sanders is pushing past that framing, arguing that the results in Arkansas and comparable gains in Mississippi should draw attention from blue states as well.

That argument will be tested by whether the proficiency trajectory holds. A three-year trend on a new statewide exam is meaningful but not yet definitive. Independent verification of the methodology behind the state's assessments will ultimately determine how seriously other policymakers can take Arkansas as a model. For now, the data Sanders is presenting is directionally consistent and internally coherent — and that alone makes it a signal worth watching.