Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men

Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men is a small public high school in Detroit, Michigan, serving 76 students in grades 9-12. The school stands out for its predominantly African American student population, high graduation rates, and low student-teacher ratio, but faces challenges with chronic absenteeism and below-average test scores compared to the state.

With 98.68% of its students identifying as African American, Frederick Douglass Academy has a significantly less diverse student body than nearby schools. However, the school has shown improvement in its four-year graduation rates, increasing from 69.5% in 2020-2021 to 90.9% in 2022-2023, outperforming some of its counterparts. The school's dropout rate has also fluctuated, reaching 0% in the current school year, a positive indicator. Despite these achievements, the school continues to struggle with high chronic absenteeism rates, which reached as high as 72.2% in 2017-2018 and remain at 54.7% in 2022-2023.

Academically, Frederick Douglass Academy's test scores, while generally higher than the Detroit Public Schools Community District average, are still below the state averages. For example, in 2022-2023, only 30.4% of 11th-grade students were proficient or better in M-Step/Science, compared to the state average of 39%. The school's spending per student, ranging from $44,593 to $55,081 over the past few years, is significantly higher than some nearby schools, such as Crockett Midtown High School of Science and Medicine and Detroit Public Safety Academy.