Summary:
The Rockford School District 205 in Illinois operates 7 middle schools, serving students in grades 6-8. The district's middle schools exhibit a wide range of academic performance, with stark contrasts between the top-performing Thurgood Marshall School and the lowest-performing Kennedy Middle School.
Thurgood Marshall School stands out as the district's top performer, consistently ranking among the top 10 middle schools in Illinois and earning a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger. In contrast, Kennedy Middle School is the lowest-performing school in the district, with a 0-star rating and very low test scores, where only around 10% of students are proficient or better in English Language Arts and less than 2% in Mathematics. The district's middle schools also face challenges with high chronic absenteeism rates, which are significantly higher than the state average.
The data reveals significant disparities in academic performance, socioeconomic factors, and resource allocation within the district. Schools with higher-need student populations, as indicated by their free/reduced lunch rates, tend to have much lower test scores. Additionally, the wide range in spending per student, from $15,304 at Eisenhower Middle School to $26,207 at Kennedy Middle School, raises questions about the equity of resource allocation and its potential impact on student outcomes.
Thank you for your feedback!