Quitman School District

The Quitman School District in Arkansas is a small, unified district serving approximately 950 students across three schools: Quitman Elementary School (PK-5), Quitman Middle School (6-8), and Quitman High School (9-12). The district ranks 65th out of 251 in Arkansas, earning a solid 4-star rating, but the schools show very different strengths and challenges.

Quitman Elementary School is the clear academic powerhouse, ranking in the 81st percentile statewide and consistently exceeding district and state averages in all subjects. In contrast, Quitman Middle School is the weakest link, dropping from the 79th to the 56th percentile in just two years, with a particularly alarming crisis in 7th grade Reading where only 18.3% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 39%. Quitman High School stands out for its operational efficiency, boasting an incredibly low student-teacher ratio of 7.9:1, a high graduation rate of 93.9%, and a dropout rate of just 0.6%, though its core academic test scores in ELA and Reading fall below state averages.

A stark resource allocation paradox exists: the High School spends nearly three times as much per student ($16,566) as the Middle School ($5,918), despite the Middle School having the lowest test scores. A bright spot across all three schools is Science, where every grade level exceeds the state average, suggesting a district-wide strength that could be replicated in other subjects. The data strongly indicates a need to examine the transition from elementary to middle school and to target interventions at the Middle School, especially in 7th grade Reading.