Most of the attention on the Education Freedom Account goes to getting one. Keeping one is a quieter job, and it comes down to two obligations that are easy to miss in a busy year: your child has to be tested, and you have to renew. Neither happens automatically, and the state is explicit that missing them can cost you the account. Here is what each requires for a River Valley family, and when.
Every EFA student gets tested
The state's family handbook is direct about this: every student funded by an EFA takes an annual standardized assessment in mathematics and reading. It is not optional, and it applies whether your child is at Union Christian Academy, at a parish school, in a microschool or learning at home.
There are two acceptable routes. One is the state's own grade-level assessment, ATLAS. The other is any nationally norm-referenced test on the state's approved list, which includes the Iowa Assessments, Stanford-10, TerraNova, MAP Growth and, for older students, the ACT or SAT.
Who arranges it depends on where your child learns
If your child attends one of the eight participating private schools in Sebastian and Crawford counties, the school handles it. It administers the test on its own calendar and reports the scores to the state, and you will usually hear about it as a normal testing week rather than as an EFA requirement.
If you are homeschooling on the account, the work is yours. You arrange the test, you pay for it out of the account, and you submit the results to the state. The guidance for this year says to have your child assessed after March 1 and share the results with the department, with scores generally due by June 30. A family starting an account this year would test in spring 2027.
If testing is not appropriate for your child
An exemption exists, and it is narrower than people expect. It requires documentation from a qualified provider, such as a therapist, physician or counselor, explaining why the child needs to be excused, and it is intended for cases where accommodations alone would not be enough. If you think your child qualifies, start that conversation with the provider well before spring rather than in May.
The scores do get reported statewide
This year was the first with enough tests to say much. The state's new annual report, released October 9, covers 38,892 assessments in 2025-26, up from roughly 12,000 the year before. Statewide, EFA students placed at the 62nd national percentile in math and the 66th in reading, up from the 57th and 59th. Private school students landed at the 60th in math and 63rd in reading; homeschool and microschool students averaged the 65th in math and 70th in English.
The report's authors are careful to say these numbers do not show that the program caused anything. They describe who is participating, not what the program did to them.
The second obligation: renew every single year
This one catches families more often than testing does. The state's own wording is that families must apply or renew each year for every participating student. An account does not carry forward on its own, and there is no grace for forgetting.
For returning students, renewal is a survey completed in ClassWallet for each child, not a fresh application. New applicants go through the separate application portal and upload documents. Skipping a year means coming back as a new applicant rather than a returning one, which matters because returning students sit at the top of the priority order if applications ever exceed funding.
When the window opens
For the current year, the application and renewal period ran March 9 to June 1, 2026, divided into four priority windows. It is closed. The next opening will be the spring 2027 window for the 2027-28 year; the state has not published those dates, and its handbook notes that the dates shift slightly from year to year.
What that means practically: put a reminder on your calendar for early March, not early summer. Families who renewed on time are the overwhelming majority — 95.8% of participating students in grades K-11 re-enrolled for this year — but that figure only counts the ones who filed.
What the account pays while you hold it
For 2026-27 the award is $7,208 per student, paid in four quarterly installments of $1,802. The first arrived in August and the second is due at the end of October, with the remaining two in early February and mid-April. Private school families are expected to spend on tuition and fees first; testing fees are themselves an allowable expense, which is worth remembering when you book a norm-referenced test in the spring.
A short checklist for the rest of this school year
Four things, none of them urgent today and all of them easier now than in May:
- Ask your school which test it uses and when it administers it. If you homeschool, choose a test and book it for after March 1.
- If you are seeking a testing exemption, request the provider documentation this winter.
- Set a calendar reminder for the first week of March to watch for the 2027-28 window.
- Check that your ClassWallet contact details and your child's school link are current, so the renewal survey actually reaches you.
If you are not in the program yet and want to be for next fall, our guide to how the EFA works covers eligibility, and the school directory shows which River Valley schools participate. Families considering an online Christian option can read about American Faith Academy — confirm its current Arkansas EFA provider approval in ClassWallet before you commit.
Sources
- Arkansas EFA Family Handbook 2025-26 (Arkansas DESE, Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment)
- Arkansas DESE: Education Freedom Accounts
- School Choice Arkansas: EFA 101
- 2025-26 Arkansas Education Freedom Accounts Program Annual Report (School Choice Demonstration Project, University of Arkansas, with the Arkansas Department of Education, October 2026)
- Arkansas Radio: Arkansas Education Freedom Accounts triple to 44,524 students