Best High Schools in South Dakota for Special Education Students

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

Every year, the South Dakota 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 South Dakota 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 Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the South Dakota 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 (2025)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 140)	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	Colman-Egan High School - 01	Public	9-12	200 S Loban Ave	Colman	57017	Moody County	Colman-Egan School District 50-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 534-3534	100	7	14.5	18.0%	85 (85.0%)	3 (3.0%)	7 (7.0%)	1 (1.0%)	2 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.0%)	$12,142			$355			$11,788	99.3%	56.0%	43.26%			461410000091
1	Doland High School - 01	Public	9-12	405 N Humphrey Dr	Doland	57436	Spink County	Doland School District 56-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 635-6241	21	5	4.5	23.8%	20 (95.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								99.3%	16.9%	82.42%			461917000171
3	Elk Point-Jefferson High School - 01	Public	9-12	402 S Douglas St	Elk Point	57025	Union County	Elk Point-Jefferson School District 61-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 356-5901	212	15	13.6	15.1%	195 (92.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.2%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.8%)	$14,603			$660			$13,943	97.9%	94.0%	3.88%			462134000186
4	Redfield High School - 01	Public	9-12	111 6th Ave E	Redfield	57469	Spink County	Redfield School District 56-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 472-4520	153	14	10.7	19.0%	139 (90.8%)	3 (2.0%)	8 (5.2%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,060			$2,371			$14,688	97.1%	80.1%	17.02%			466045000552
5	Belle Fourche High School - 01	Public	9-12	1301 12th Ave	Belle Fourche	57717	Butte County	Belle Fourche School District 09-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 723-3350	389	27	14.5	32.1%	336 (86.4%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.7%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.1%)	$10,921			$452			$10,468	96.4%	50.0%	46.43%			460561000038
6	Brandon Valley High School - 01	Public	9-12	301 S Splitrock Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-3211	1,381	67	20.4	14.3%	1,178 (85.3%)	55 (4.0%)	58 (4.2%)	28 (2.0%)	15 (1.1%)	3 (0.2%)	44 (3.2%)	$9,784			$278			$9,506	95.7%	91.0%	4.75%			460795000071
7	Harding County High School - 01	Public	9-12	12474 Tipperary St	Buffalo	57720	Harding County	Harding County School District 31-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 375-3241	66	7	9.5	22.7%	65 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	$18,767			$853			$17,914	95.0%	91.6%	3.43%			460930000088
8	Parkston High School - 01	Public	9-12	102A S Chapman Dr	Parkston	57366	Hutchinson County	Parkston School District 33-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 928-3368	112	11	9.9	24.1%	101 (90.2%)	2 (1.8%)	5 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.8%)	$15,111			$863			$14,248	94.3%	94.6%	0.29%			465430000492
9	Kadoka Area High School - 01	Public	9-12	800 Bayberry St	Kadoka	57543	Jackson County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2172	71	9	7.5	33.8%	45 (63.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (31.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.6%)	$21,032			$6,455			$14,577	93.6%	95.2%	1.61%			468043701247
10	Burke High School - 01	Public	9-12	900 Washington St	Burke	57523	Gregory County	Burke School District 26-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 775-2645	94	8	12.1	41.5%	88 (93.6%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,397			$626			$17,771	92.9%	52.4%	40.45%			460951200101

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, Smarter Balanced Assessments Science test scores released by the South Dakota 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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 South Dakota Department of Education.