Early literacy skills are critical to a successful school experience. Third grade is considered an important milestone in a student's career in terms of reading proficiency and is correlated to whether a student will graduate high school.

In 2025, 36% of 3rd graders were proficient on the state exam, on par with student performance on the 2024 exam. Females slightly outperformed males, with 38% of females achieving proficiency, compared to 34% of males. Economically disadvantaged students had a lower proficiency rate at 28%.

In addition, there were racial and ethnic disparities in proficiency, with 18% of Black/African American students, 26% of Hispanic or Latino students, and 43% of White students achieving proficiency in 2025.

Nemo Vista School District had the highest proficiency rate at 73%, while four districts had rates in the single digits. In Springdale and Little Rock, the state's two largest districts, 31% and 28% of 3rd graders were proficient, respectively.

Studies point to a variety of factors believed to contribute to disparities in test scores and other measures of student achievement. School systems in the United States are highly segregated, and students of color disproportionately attend schools with high proportions of low-income students who may not have benefited from early learning opportunities at the same rate as other students. Schools also have different levels of resources ranging from qualified/experienced teachers to advanced courses to facilities and technology, and schools with large Black and Latino populations often have lower levels. In addition, teachers across all school systems tend to be disproportionately white, and teaching practices and curriculum may not be culturally relevant to students of color.

Arkansas replaced the ACT Aspire assessment with the ATLAS (Arkansas Teaching, Learning & Assessment System) beginning in Spring 2024. Because ATLAS is a different assessment with different scoring and performance level definitions, ATLAS results cannot be directly compared to ACT Aspire results.

Additionally, assessments vary among states, it is not possible to include comparable data for the nation or other areas in this indicator.