Summary:
Johnston City CUSD 1 is a small school district in Illinois that contains only one middle school, Washington Middle School. This school serves students in grades 6-8 and has faced significant academic challenges in recent years, with student performance well below state averages in core subjects like English Language Arts and Mathematics.
Washington Middle School's statewide ranking has fluctuated, ranging from 850 out of 1,367 Illinois middle schools in 2022-2023 to 1,031 out of 1,363 in 2023-2024. The school's overall performance, as measured by the percentage of students proficient or better in ELA and Mathematics, is significantly below the state average. In 2024-2025, only 38% of students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to the state average of 53.1%, and only 16.8% were proficient or better in Mathematics, compared to the state average of 38.5%. The school's performance in Science is also below the state average, but not as significantly as in the other core subjects.
The high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at Washington Middle School, 65.67% in 2023-2024, may indicate that the school serves a population with lower socioeconomic status, which could be a contributing factor to the school's academic underperformance. Additionally, the school's chronic absenteeism rate of 25.4% in the 2024-2025 school year is a significant issue that may be impacting student learning and achievement. Despite the school's higher per-student spending of $13,665 for the 2023-2024 school year, it is not translating into better academic outcomes, raising questions about how the resources are being allocated and utilized within the school.
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