Summary:
Carter County has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: East Carter Middle School enrolls 490 students and West Carter Middle School enrolls 392, for 882 students combined. The latest results show strengths in some eighth-grade subjects, but both schools trail the state in every tested math and reading grade, and chronic absenteeism is high: 39% at East and 42% at West, compared with about 24% statewide. The clearest shared concern is therefore math and reading performance alongside attendance.
West Carter stands out for reading: its three-grade average is 43%, compared with 35% at East Carter and 48% statewide. West scores higher in five of the six grade-level math and reading comparisons, including sixth- and seventh-grade reading, where it leads East by 8 and 12 percentage points. However, West has the lowest score in the comparison for seventh-grade math: 20%, versus 30% at East and 39% statewide. East’s seventh-grade math score is a relative strength, and its eighth-grade writing result, 49%, is 1 point above the state’s 48%. West is also above the state in eighth-grade editing and mechanics, 44% to 42%, and matches the state in writing.
Results have weakened overall, especially at East: across the same nine tests, its average fell 8 points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, while West’s declined by about 1 point; the two-school average moved from 4 points below the state to 7 points below. SchoolDigger rankings also fell: East went from 149th of 324 schools (54th percentile) to 254th of 326 (22nd), and West from 162nd (50th percentile) to 225th (31st). Their ratings fell from three stars to one at East and two at West. As context, 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 20.6 at East and 18.9 at West; the share eligible for free or reduced-price lunch that year was 63% and 72%, respectively. These differences describe the schools but do not explain their achievement results.
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