Elementary Schools in Academy for Business and Technology

There is just one elementary school in the Academy for Business and Technology district: Academy for Business and Technology Elementary, which serves grades PK through 5 in Dearborn, MI, with 256 students and a 15.5:1 student-teacher ratio.

This school faces severe challenges that parents should understand. Every single student (100%) qualifies for free or reduced lunch, indicating extreme poverty concentration. More critically, 55.1% of students are chronically absent—nearly double the state average of 27.9%—meaning most students are missing significant instructional time. Academically, the school has never earned more than one star in its ranking history and currently sits in the bottom 8% of Michigan elementary schools (ranked 1378 out of 1492 for 2025-2026). Test scores are consistently 20-35 points below state averages across all subjects. For example, only 8.3% of 3rd graders are proficient in math versus 42.9% statewide, and just 11.1% of 3rd graders are proficient in ELA versus 38.2% statewide.

The data reveals a few important patterns. First, there was a dramatic decline in ELA performance from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026: 3rd grade ELA proficiency fell from 28.6% to 11.1%, and 5th grade fell from 30.6% to 14.6%. This suggests either a major cohort difference or instructional disruption. Second, math proficiency remains critically low across all years—roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of the state average. Third, the school's best year (2024-2025, when it earned its only star) coincided with its strongest test scores, suggesting that improving attendance could be the most effective lever for improvement. Notably, no per-student spending data was reported, making it impossible to assess resource adequacy. The student-teacher ratio is reasonable, so class size is not the primary issue. Parents should know this school is dealing with a convergence of poverty, absenteeism, and low performance that will require targeted interventions, particularly around attendance and math instruction, to break the cycle.