Summary:
The city of Evansdale, Iowa is home to two schools: Bunger Middle School and Poyner Elementary, both part of the Waterloo Community School District. While both schools have relatively low statewide rankings, Poyner Elementary consistently outperforms Bunger Middle School and the district as a whole on standardized test scores, particularly in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
Poyner Elementary's 4th-grade proficiency rates in the 2024-2025 school year were 79.1% in ELA and 74.4% in Math, significantly higher than the district averages of 61.9% and 62.2%, respectively. Bunger Middle School's test scores, while still below the state averages, are generally higher than the district averages. However, both schools struggle with high chronic absenteeism rates, at 21.6% for the 2023-2024 school year.
Socioeconomic factors may play a role, as Bunger Middle School has a higher percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch (73.77%) compared to Poyner Elementary (67.78%). Additionally, Bunger Middle School spends $14,500 per student, while Poyner Elementary spends $13,693 per student, suggesting that the additional funding at Bunger Middle School has not translated into better academic outcomes for its students.
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