ChastangFournier Middle School

ChastangFournier Middle School in Mobile, AL, serves 503 students in grades K-8, making it a unique K-8 configuration within the Mobile County district, where the vast majority of students (91%) come from economically disadvantaged households.

The most striking pattern at this school is a dramatic decline in math proficiency as students advance. While 3rd graders score close to the district average (33% proficient vs. 35% district), by 7th grade only 1.64% of students are proficient in math—a fraction of the 18.59% district average. This "middle school cliff" suggests the school struggles to provide effective math instruction in upper grades, possibly due to a lack of specialized teachers or compounding learning gaps. English scores show a similar but less severe decline, with 3rd grade at 50% proficiency (near the district's 55.76%) and 8th grade rebounding to 36.54%. Science is the school's strongest subject, with 8th grade proficiency at 37.96% versus the district's 51.52%. For comparison, nearby WD Robbins Elementary School—serving a similar demographic—achieves 57.89% 3rd grade math proficiency, while Old Shell Road Magnet School ranks in the 99th percentile with 94.83% math proficiency.

There are encouraging signs despite the challenges. Chronic absenteeism has dropped dramatically from 34.7% to 15.8% over two years, and the school's overall ranking improved from the 4th to the 11th percentile. The school's strongest subgroup performance is with African American students (27th percentile), while female students have shown a concerning recent decline. With a student-teacher ratio of 19.3—higher than nearby schools like Old Shell Road (14.8)—the school may benefit from targeted math interventions, specialized teachers for grades 4-8, and adapting successful strategies from its science and English instruction to improve math outcomes.