Summary:
Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy is the sole elementary public charter school serving grades PK-8 in this area, with 422 students. The data reveals concerning insights about the school's consistently low academic performance, high poverty and absenteeism rates, and questions around resource allocation.
Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy has ranked in the bottom 10-15% of Missouri elementary schools over the past 3 years, with proficiency rates significantly below the state average across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's math and English Language Arts proficiency rates ranged from just 4.6% to 23% and 8% to 21.5%, respectively, compared to state averages of 32.7% to 45.5% in math and 39.3% to 44.8% in ELA. The school's science proficiency rates are also very low, with only 3.7% of 5th graders and 14.8% of 8th graders scoring proficient or better in 2024-2025, compared to state averages of 42.2% and 39.2%.
The data also reveals that Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy serves a population with significant socioeconomic challenges, with 99.29% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch and a chronic absenteeism rate of 56.7% in 2023-2024. Despite these challenges, the school's per-student spending is relatively high at $16,796 in 2021-2022, and the student-teacher ratio is lower than the state average at 12.4. This raises questions about the effectiveness of the school's resource allocation and the need to ensure that funding and staffing are being used in the most impactful way to support student learning.
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