Summary:
Cobden Elementary School is the only elementary school in Cobden SUD 17, serving prekindergarten through grade five and enrolling 223 students. Its 2025–2026 results were mixed: all-grades ELA and math proficiency were slightly above the state, while fifth-grade science was below. The most important finding is the sharp science reversal: the school moved from 16 points above state proficiency in 2024–2025 to 6 points below in 2025–2026.
There is no peer-school leader or trailer in this one-school area; the useful comparisons are with Illinois. ELA is the school’s strongest result: 60% of students were proficient overall, 4 points above the state, with fourth-grade ELA 8 points above and fifth-grade ELA 10 points above. Math was just above the state overall—40.2% versus 39.6%, a 1-point lead—while fifth-grade science was the weakest comparison, at 41% versus 48% statewide. Chronic absenteeism was also lower than the state rate: 11.6% at the school versus 24% statewide.
Recent trends reinforce the contrast between subjects. All-grades ELA proficiency rose 5 points over two years, from 55% to 60%, and its advantage over the state widened from 2 points to 4. Math rose by 1 point, but its lead narrowed from 1 point to 1 point (0.6 points in the latest year). Fifth-grade science fell 16 points while the state rose 7, a 22-point swing in the school’s position relative to the state. SchoolDigger gives the school 3 stars and ranks it 867 of 1,737, at the 50th percentile; its percentile was 49th in 2023–2024 and 60th in 2024–2025. Other context includes a 10.1 student–teacher ratio and 93% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025. Third-grade 2025–2026 school results in ELA and math are suppressed.
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