Summary:
Kansas City has seven middle schools serving grades 6–8, with enrollments ranging from 412 to 821 students. Across the schools, average proficiency is about 17% in English language arts (ELA), 10% in math and 5% in science, compared with state rates of about 46%, 41% and 38%, respectively. The largest average shortfall is in science—about 33 percentage points below the state—so the most important finding is that every school faces substantial state-level proficiency gaps.
Arrowhead Middle stands out in ELA and math, with about 25% and 16% proficient; both are the best results in the group. Its rates are about 2 points above the other six schools’ ELA average and 7 points above their math average. Gloria Willis Middle leads in science at about 7%, roughly 2 points above the other schools’ average. At the other end, Central Middle is lowest in ELA (about 12%) and math (about 5%); Arrowhead is lowest in science at about 3%. SchoolDigger ranks all seven in the state’s bottom 5%: Arrowhead is highest at 349th of 368 (5th percentile), while Central is 368th of 368 (0th percentile).
Recent results are mixed: group-average ELA rose from about 16% to 17%, math from about 9% to 10%, while science was essentially flat at about 5%. ELA improved at six schools, math at four and science at two; Argentine Middle had the largest math gain, about 6 points, while Rosedale Middle had the largest science decline, about 4 points. School differences may matter to families: Arrowhead is the smallest school and leads in two subjects but trails in science. Argentine and Rosedale have similar enrollments and nearly identical ELA results, yet Argentine scores higher in math and science. D D Eisenhower Middle has the lowest listed free/reduced-lunch rate, about 73%, but is near the bottom in current results; these figures describe differences, not what causes them.
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