Summary:
Rhinelander, Wisconsin is home to a single middle school, James Williams Middle School, which serves students in grades 6-8. While the school's performance on standardized tests is generally below the Rhinelander School District and Wisconsin state averages, the school faces some unique challenges that may be contributing to its lower academic outcomes.
James Williams Middle School's proficiency rates on the Forward Exam in subjects like English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science are consistently below the district and state averages. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the school's 8th-grade proficiency rates were 32.12% in ELA, 41.61% in Math, 45.99% in Social Studies, and 48.18% in Science, compared to the state averages of 53.97%, 53.06%, 62.51%, and 50.04%, respectively. Additionally, the school's statewide ranking has declined over the past few years, from 377 out of 641 in 2023-2024 to 445 out of 628 in 2024-2025.
One factor that may be contributing to the school's lower performance is the high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which stands at 52.33% for the 2023-2024 school year. This suggests that the school serves a population with significant socioeconomic challenges, which research has shown can be a significant predictor of student achievement. The school's dropout rate of 1.3% and chronic absenteeism rate of 17.7% for the 2023-2024 school year also indicate areas where the school may need to focus its efforts to improve student outcomes.
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