El Dorado School District

The El Dorado School District in Arkansas serves 1,235 students at El Dorado High School, two middle schools (Washington Middle School and Barton Junior High School), and three elementary schools (Yocum Elementary School, Hugh Goodwin Elementary School, and Northwest Elementary School), with the district earning a 3-star rating and ranking 115th out of 251 districts statewide.

The standout school is Hugh Goodwin Elementary School, a 5-star school in the 92nd percentile that achieves the highest test scores in the district despite having the lowest per-student spending ($11,395) and the highest student-to-teacher ratio (20.6:1). In contrast, Yocum Elementary School is a 1-star school in the bottom 10th percentile, with proficiency rates nearly three times lower than Hugh Goodwin's in both English Language Arts (21.4% vs. 60.7%) and Mathematics (29.3% vs. 71.5%). Barton Junior High School is a math powerhouse, with 95.2% of its 8th graders proficient in Algebra—21.3 percentage points above the state average. El Dorado High School performs solidly in the 59th percentile with a 92.2% graduation rate, and its 9th-grade Algebra proficiency (47.7%) nearly doubles the state average (25.3%). Northwest Elementary School shows positive momentum, improving its ranking from the 28th to the 43rd percentile over three years.

Key metrics reveal significant disparities: per-student spending ranges from $11,395 at Hugh Goodwin to $14,216 at the high school, while student-to-teacher ratios vary from 9.2:1 at the high school to 20.6:1 at Hugh Goodwin. The district's 3-star rating masks a wide performance gap, with a 5-star elementary school and a 1-star elementary school coexisting. The high school's low dropout rate (1.0%) and strong Algebra foundation from Barton Junior High suggest effective vertical alignment in math, while Hugh Goodwin's efficiency offers a model for resource management. Washington Middle School data was not highlighted, but the overall picture shows a district with bright spots and clear challenges, particularly at Yocum Elementary.