Dermott Elementary School

Dermott Elementary School in Dermott, AR, is a small, rural school serving 150 students from Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade, where every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the community's high level of economic disadvantage.

This school faces significant academic challenges, particularly in mathematics, where only 20% of students are proficient—far below the state average of 44.1% and dramatically lower than nearby McGehee Elementary School (46.7% proficient) and Eudora Elementary School (44.4% proficient). A troubling pattern emerges as students advance: while 4th graders outperform the state average in English Language Arts (47.8% proficient vs. 41.4%), proficiency plummets to just 13.3% by 6th grade, compared to the state's 40.8%. This steep decline suggests that while early literacy programs may be effective, the school struggles to support students as they encounter more complex content in upper grades.

Despite spending $22,192 per student—significantly more than McGehee Elementary ($15,151) and Lakeside Elementary School ($15,179)—academic outcomes remain critically low, pointing to an efficiency problem. The school benefits from a very low student-to-teacher ratio of 10.7:1, a potential asset that is not translating into improved performance. The success of McGehee Elementary, which serves a similarly disadvantaged population in the McGehee School District, demonstrates that high poverty does not have to dictate low results, offering a clear benchmark for what Dermott Elementary could achieve with targeted improvements in math instruction and upper-grade support.