Summary:
The Augusta School District in Arkansas is served by a single high school, Augusta High School, a small rural institution for grades 7 through 12 with 145 students facing significant socioeconomic challenges, as 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
Augusta High School shows a remarkable story of improvement, yet still struggles against state averages. Between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years, proficiency in English Language Arts more than doubled from 10.9% to 25.3%, and Reading nearly doubled from 16.3% to 31.6%. This progress helped the school’s state ranking jump from the 7th percentile to the 15th percentile. However, the school still lags behind the state in every subject, with overall proficiency rates of 25.3% in ELA, 31.6% in Reading, 27.5% in Math, and 36.4% in Science, compared to state averages around 40%. The school’s graduation rate of 86.9% is below the state average of 90.1%, and its state ranking remains low at 250th out of 293 schools, earning a 1-star rating.
A critical finding is the "10th grade cliff," where 7th graders perform near or above state averages in ELA (39.3% vs. 37.7%) and Reading (42.8% vs. 39.0%), but 10th-grade ELA proficiency plummets to just 8.4% and Biology to 17.3%. This suggests the school effectively prepares younger students but fails to maintain momentum through high school. The school also presents a paradox: it spends a high $16,541 per student, likely due to an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio of 3.2:1, yet academic outcomes remain well below state averages. This raises questions about whether the investment is being directed toward the most effective interventions for its students.
Thank you for your feedback!