Modern public education has failed at adapting to massive and consequential shifts in American society that have changed the lives, backgrounds and attitudes of students who show up in class.

Despite families and lifestyles of Arkansas students being less homogenous than ever, the government clings blindly to its century-old, system-centric education model. This is especially discouraging because we know where the worst learning deficiencies are.

Studies consistently show that students living in high-poverty districts, for example, earn lower test scores than students from wealthier areas. But research also tells us that poorer students across the board tend to perform better in smaller schools.

It's beyond the power of education department leadership to improve the median household income of any community, but completely within their authority to adjust the size of schools.

Income is only one factor shaping households and the influences on children living within them. For other dynamics, family landscapes have flipped.

In 1940, nearly seven out of 10 American families featured a husband in the workforce and a wife whose primary occupation was homemaking. Only 9 percent of U.S. families were dual-earner couples. This was the national norm around which public school systems were designed.

That 60-point gap between "traditional" and two-working-parent families began shrinking significantly during World........

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