Summary
Duane E. Furman Independent Study is a K–12 alternative school with 348 students in Madera, California. In 2025–26, its proficiency was 22% in English language arts (ELA), 7% in math, and 9% in science. It trailed both the state and Madera Unified in all three subjects: the gaps to the state were 27, 31, and 27 percentage points, and the gaps to the district were 11, 13, and 12 points, respectively. Math is the clearest concern: it has the lowest score and the largest gap to both comparisons.
Among nearby schools with reported results, Duane E. Furman ranks fourth of eight in ELA and math, and fourth of seven in science. Its ELA score of 22% is 7 points below the nearby-school average of 29%; math is 7%, compared with a 16% average; and science is 9%, compared with a 22% average. Science is its weakest result against nearby schools. There are also sharp differences by grade: eighth-grade ELA proficiency was 7% and eighth-grade science was 2%, while 11th-grade ELA and science were stronger than the school’s all-grades results. Even so, the 11th-grade scores remained below state rates.
Results have declined slightly from the earliest to latest years reported, even as state proficiency rose: from 2022–23 to 2025–26, ELA fell 4 points, math fell 1 point, and science fell 2 points, widening the school’s gaps to the state. Completion trends are more encouraging: graduation rose from 75% in 2021–22 to 90% in 2025–26, while dropout fell from 15% to 7%. Chronic absenteeism also fell, from 65% to 50%, but remains much higher than the state’s 18% and the district’s 23%. For context, the student-teacher ratio was 19.6 in 2024–25, below the nearby-school average of 20.5; free/reduced lunch eligible was 92% that year. SchoolDigger ranks Madera Unified 811th of 968 districts (16th percentile, one star); this is a district rating, not a ranking of the school.
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