Summary
Ackerman is an elementary school in Florissant, Missouri that serves 130 students in grades K-8, with a predominantly African American student body. Despite high per-student spending, the school has struggled academically, ranking in the bottom 10-20% of Missouri elementary schools over the past decade.
Ackerman's academic performance is significantly below state and district averages across multiple subjects and grade levels. For example, in the 2022-2023 school year, only 22.7% of 6th graders were proficient or better in Math, compared to 43.7% statewide. The school also has an extremely high percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 97.69% to 98.27% over the past three school years, indicating a very high level of economic disadvantage. Interestingly, Ackerman spends significantly more per student ($113,016 in 2021-2022) compared to the surrounding Ferguson-Florissant R-II and Hazelwood district schools, which spend around $12,000-$13,000 per student.
While Ackerman has a very low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 3.2 to 4.4 over the past three school years, this does not appear to translate into improved academic outcomes. In fact, the nearby Keeven Elementary and Robinwood Elementary schools, which also serve predominantly low-income, minority student populations, generally outperform Ackerman academically. This suggests that the school may not be effectively allocating its resources to support student learning, and that addressing the underlying factors contributing to its performance, such as poverty and teacher effectiveness, may be necessary to drive meaningful improvements.
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