Summary:
The Lead Hill School District in Lead Hill, Arkansas, serves 370 students across two schools: Lead Hill Elementary School (Pre-K through 6th grade) and Lead Hill High School (7th through 12th grade), with a very high 98.38% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, indicating significant economic challenges.
These two schools present very different academic profiles. Lead Hill High School is a standout for its rapid improvement, jumping from the 23rd percentile (1 star) to the 51st percentile (3 stars) in state rankings over three years. It also excels in science, with 10th-grade Biology proficiency at 54.9% compared to the state average of 35.1%. However, its overall Mathematics proficiency (29.7%) lags far behind the state (44.1%). In contrast, Lead Hill Elementary School is a powerhouse in mathematics, with a 55.6% proficiency rate that beats the state average of 44.1%, including a standout 59.4% proficiency for 3rd graders. The high school also benefits from dramatically smaller class sizes (6.8:1 student-teacher ratio) and higher per-student spending ($16,106) compared to the elementary school (16.1:1 ratio and $14,916 per student), suggesting a strategic investment in secondary education.
A key takeaway is the "leaky pipeline" in math: strong elementary math skills do not carry over to the high school, where math scores drop significantly. Both schools are on a positive trajectory, with the elementary school improving from the 31st to 42nd percentile and the high school making a dramatic leap. The high school's graduation rate is 80.7% (below the state's 90.1%), but its dropout rate is very low at 0.5%. Given the high poverty rate, the high school's achievement of a 3-star ranking is a notable accomplishment, indicating that smaller classes and higher spending are helping to overcome economic disadvantages.
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