Summary:
Bradford CUSD 1 has one elementary school, Bradford Grade School, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade and 123 students. Because it is the only school in the area, there is no meaningful comparison among local schools. In 2025–2026, its all-grades proficiency was above Illinois results in both subjects: 67% in English language arts (ELA) versus 56% statewide, and 55% in math versus 40% statewide. The most important overall finding is that Bradford was ahead of the state in both ELA and math, with a larger lead in math.
Within the reported grade-level results, third grade stands out most positively, while fifth-grade ELA is the main exception. Third-grade proficiency was 93% in both ELA and math, about 46 and 44 points above state results, respectively. Fifth-grade ELA was 50%, about 5 points below the state; fifth-grade math was 42%, about 6 points above it. Fifth-grade science was 50%, about 3 points above the state. Because this is one school and some grade-level groups may be small, the figures cannot show differences among local schools, and the grade-level results represent different student cohorts.
Bradford’s results improved most in ELA and fifth-grade science from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: ELA rose 9 points, compared with a 3-point state increase, while science rose 11 points, compared with 7 points statewide. Math was nearly unchanged, up less than 1 point, while the state gained 1 point. SchoolDigger ranked Bradford 572 of 1,737 schools in 2025–2026 (67th percentile, 3 stars), compared with 635 of 2,056 (69th percentile) the year before; its ranking was 410 of 2,067 (80th percentile) in 2023–2024. The ranking is a separate measure from the recent proficiency gains. As context, 52% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025, and the student–teacher ratio was 13.3 to 1 that year.
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