Conner Middle School

Conner Middle School in McGehee, AR, serves 248 students in grades 6 through 8 and operates within the McGehee School District, where all students qualify for free or reduced lunch. While the school ranks in the bottom third of Arkansas middle schools, it stands out for its efficient use of resources and strong performance in advanced math, particularly when compared to nearby Dumas Middle School.

Conner Middle School significantly outperforms Dumas Middle School across all core subjects, despite both schools serving 100% economically disadvantaged students. For example, Conner’s math proficiency rate (34.7%) is over five times higher than Dumas’s (6.7%), and its English Language Arts proficiency (23.7%) is nearly double Dumas’s (12.3%). The school also spends $12,092 per student—50% less than Dumas’s $18,135—yet achieves far better results, highlighting strong operational efficiency. A standout metric is Algebra performance: 62.6% of Conner’s 8th graders taking Algebra are proficient, more than double the district average (27.6%) and well above the state average (36.9%), showing the school effectively accelerates top math students.

However, Conner faces challenges. Test scores have remained flat over the past three years, with no significant upward trend, and student proficiency drops sharply from 6th to 8th grade in every subject—for instance, math falls from 44.5% in 6th grade to 19.1% in 8th grade. This suggests the curriculum may not prepare students for increasing complexity, or engagement wanes in the final middle school year. While Conner proves that high-poverty schools can achieve meaningful results, its biggest opportunity is to replicate its Algebra success across all subjects and grade levels to drive consistent growth.