ForwARd Arkansas is launching a statewide community-level education initiative.
ForwARd's Jared Henderson told the State Board of Education Thursday the collaboration has a set of recommendations and will invite local communities to implement them.
"In some of these communities the progress might not necessarily be in academic outcomes, it might be in parent engagement outcomes," he said.
"It might not be in kids reading better next year, it might be in more parents coming to parent-teacher conferences next year."
The group will solicit applications from local communities interested in adopting ForwARd's recommendations based on local priorities.
ForwARd is tasked with closing the achievement gap and improving education statewide. It is a partnership between the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, the State Board of Education, and the Walton Family Foundation.
An early rollout of the Forward Communities program will start in January.
