What is Aspire Arkansas?

Aspire Arkansas grew from a need that Arkansas Community Foundation identified for more accessible, localized data that can drive community improvement. Back in 2011, the first Aspire Arkansas report was published with county-by-county data on issues important to Arkansans. The data was updated in 2013 and an Aspire Actions report was added to help Arkansans bridge the gap between data and actions that could accomplish specific community goals.

This expanded online version of Aspire Arkansas debuted in May of 2018 with downloadable data on education, healthcare, families and communities to help individuals, organizations and communities make better decisions through better data access.

On the website are 43 community indicators that help us determine strengths and weaknesses and focus our efforts to improve Arkansas. Aspire Arkansas also provides commentary that interprets the indicator information through maps, graphs, summaries and charts. Each indicator has a state-wide map showing how outcomes vary geographically, a statewide trend illustrating changes over time and, where available, how they compare to national trends, how Arkansas ranks on outcomes compared to other states, and how different groups  of people within the state are doing compared to one another.

Data tells stories that help us understand what is and form visions for what can be. Arkansas Community Foundation’s goal is that the Aspire Arkansas site will help Arkansans discover these data stories and use the power of knowledge to create positive change.

Where does the Community Foundation get Aspire Arkansas data?

All of the Aspire Arkansas data comes from existing sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, state and federal government agencies and universities. The data sources are provided onsite for each indicator.

The Foundation consulted various stakeholders and data experts throughout the region for their guidance during its development. CGR (Center for Governmental Research) coordinated creation of the website and provided much of the data and analysis

In gathering data for Aspire Arkansas, the Foundation and its data partner balanced desires for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. Some data are available every year and regularly and quickly updated.  Other datasets take longer to update, so the data on the website contains the most recent data, but it may be several years old.

What is a category?
Data is organized into six main categories:

1. Education
2. Health
3. Families
4. Community
5. Demographics
6. Racial equity

Data has been compiled into these categories and within each are multiple indicators that reflect various quality of life and statistics in the state of Arkansas. 

What is an indicator?

Indicators are measures that help to describe an economic, environmental, social or cultural condition over time. They are often expressed as a rate or percent, such as the number of children who are reading at grade level, the obesity rate or the unemployment rate.

How did you select the indicators?

Together with our data partner, we studied a list of available indicators and chose the data most likely to help make decisions on charitable giving for improving communities around education, healthcare families and communities.

Our current data partner, the Center for Governmental Research, suggests that the criteria for selecting indicators should include:

• The data should be available and relatively easy to access.
• It should be reliably and consistently tracked over multiple years, ideally updated at least annually.

• The data should be understandable to both the general public and key decision-makers.
• The indicator should reflect broad community goals and be tied to critical issues the region is attempting to address. Positive changes in the indicator data should reflect progress in addressing key issues and achieving desired outcomes.
• Data for the indicator should be available for multiple geographic areas (for example, all counties in a state) and should be available for the state and/or nation so that reasonable comparisons can be made to help put the data in context.
• In addition, only indicators that provide community-wide data relating to outcomes should be considered for inclusion; for example, data pertaining only to individual agencies or programs, and that could not be collected and analyzed for the larger community, should typically not be considered for inclusion.

When I see 1%= under the state trend on an indicator page, what does that mean?

The number next to the 1%= shows how many people would need to improve to increase the indicator rate by one percentage point. So for example, if the indicator is 3^rd grade reading and box reads 1%=378, it would take an additional 378 3^rd grade students testing proficient on the state reading exam to increase the state proficiency level by one percentage point.

How did you determine the national ranking? Why is it not on every indicator?

When nationally comparable state data was available, Arkansas’ rank compared to other states is reported. The ranking is set so the states with the strongest performance are first. The ranking is done out of the number of states available in the data (Washington DC is included in the ranking when available). Often, the nationally comparable data available is from an earlier year than the most recent Arkansas data. Look for the year in the box to see when the ranking data is from. If the rank is missing on an indicator, it is because nationally comparable data was not available for enough states to do a ranking.

What is the state trend?

The state trend helps show which direction the indicator is moving at the state level. It is determined by the change from the earliest year of data available to the latest year of data available. If the indicator has been going up the state trend will list “increasing”, if it has stayed relatively flat, the state trend will list “maintaining”, if it is going down the state trend will list “decreasing”.

The color of the arrow helps the reader know which direction of trend is positive progress. If the arrow is red that indicates that the trend is moving in a way that is bad for the community, if it is green that indicates that things are moving in the right direction. If there hasn’t been much change the arrow will be flat and gray.

Has Aspire Arkansas data been used in the past? How?

Community Foundation affiliates throughout our state have been able to make grants and build partnerships to address the areas identified through this data analysis. Statewide organizations and government entities have used the combined statistics to better understand issues and provide smarter answers to those they serve.

Why is Aspire Arkansas needed if the data is available from other sources?

It is a question of access. Yes, this public data is available from other sources, but most people are not aware of all the data that is available on these important issues. By making the data more accessible to more people and by providing analysis of the data, the Foundation helps the citizens of our state, including grantmakers, better understand how to help their communities.

Aspire Arkansas is one source to check for data about multiple issues that is put in context by experts, compared to national data and available for easy, free download.

Why does the site include racial/ethnic data for only some counties of Arkansas?

In the Racial Equity category, racial/ethnic breakdowns are provided for the 13 largest counties that have the most reliable data. 

Why is Bowie County, Texas included?

Texarkana Area Community Foundation is unique as it serves nonprofits in Texas and Arkansas, including Bowie County, Texas. Aspire data for this county is included to serve this region.  However, some data that is available to view for counties in Arkansas may not always be available for Bowie County.