Best Middle Schools in Kentucky for Special Education Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Kentucky!

Every year, the Kentucky Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Special Education students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Kentucky test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the KSA test scores by the Kentucky Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 126)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (Special Education)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Special Education)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	Whitley County Middle School	Public	7-8	351 Blvd of Champions	Williamsburg	40769	Whitley County	Whitley County	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 549-7050	547	39	14	76.2%	521 (95.2%)	2 (0.4%)	11 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.0%)	$18,395	$2,685	$1,041	$3,726	$9,516	$2,440	$11,955	99.2%	90.9%	8.27%			210588001387
2	Knox County Middle School	Public	6-8	311 N Main St	Barbourville	40906	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 545-5267	522	43	12.1	76.8%	501 (96.0%)	9 (1.7%)	7 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$16,657	$2,498	$1,112	$3,610	$10,804	$2,244	$13,047	98.4%	85.6%	12.79%			210315002029
3	Wolfe County Middle School	Public	7-8	303 North Johnson Street	Campton	41301	Wolfe County	Wolfe County	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 668-8152	148	11	13.4	79.1%	147 (99.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,861	$3,434	$702	$4,136	$11,348	$4,280	$15,628	97.6%	78.8%	18.87%			210597001693
4	Harlan High School	Public	5-12	420 E Central St	Harlan	40831	Harlan County	Harlan Independent	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 573-8750	455	27	17	54.9%	402 (88.4%)	17 (3.7%)	8 (1.8%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (5.5%)	$30,750	$3,013	$1,416	$4,429	$15,528	$4,071	$19,599	96.8%	55.9%	40.89%			210252000552
5	Belfry Middle School	Public	6-8	25259 Us 119 N	Belfry	41514	Pike County	Pike County	No	No	No	No	(606) 353-9688	344	21	16.7	64.5%	324 (94.2%)	7 (2.0%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.9%)	$15,894	$738	$844	$1,582	$10,484	$3,495	$13,979	96.0%	66.6%	29.47%			210480002013
6	West Perry Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	72 Miss Edna Lane	Hazard	41701	Perry County	Perry County	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 439-6438	743	49	15.2	77.9%	711 (95.7%)	5 (0.7%)	10 (1.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (1.9%)	$19,079	$2,057	$1,523	$3,580	$9,988	$3,195	$13,183	95.2%	73.8%	21.49%			210477002453
7	James Madison Middle School	Public	6-8	510 Brown Rd	Madisonville	42431	Hopkins County	Hopkins County	No	No	No	Yes	(270) 825-6160	466	25	18.4	44.0%	371 (79.6%)	33 (7.1%)	20 (4.3%)	9 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (7.1%)	$13,107	$573	$184	$757	$8,344	$1,866	$10,210	94.4%	72.5%	21.94%			210286000681
8	Adair County Middle School	Public	6-8	322 General John Adair Dr	Columbia	42728	Adair County	Adair County	No	No	No	Yes	(270) 384-5308	559	39	14.5	66.2%	480 (85.9%)	9 (1.6%)	43 (7.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (4.5%)	$13,163	$861	$331	$1,269	$10,250	$1,262	$11,823	93.7%	47.5%	46.15%			210003001919
9	Johnson County Middle School	Public	7-8	251 N Mayo Tr	Paintsville	41240	Johnson County	Johnson County	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 789-4133	449	40	11.3	58.8%	426 (94.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.8%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (2.0%)	$18,299	$2,255	$1,154	$3,409	$10,703	$2,424	$13,127	92.9%	67.8%	25.04%			210306000800
10	North Marshall Middle School	Public	6-8	3111 U. S. Hwy 95	Calvert City	42029	Marshall County	Marshall County	No	No	No	Yes	(270) 395-7108	487	30	16.4	51.5%	450 (92.4%)	3 (0.6%)	15 (3.1%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.1%)	$15,043	$679	$518	$1,197	$10,215	$2,837	$13,052	92.1%	81.3%	10.81%			210381000977

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Kentucky

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for KY student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on KSA Mathematics, KSA Reading, KSA Science, KSA Writing, KSA Social Studies, KSA Editing and Mechanics test scores released by the Kentucky Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Kentucky Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Kentucky Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kentucky Department of Education.