Summary:
Janesville School District serves middle school students in grades 6 through 8 at three schools — Marshall Middle, Edison Middle, and Franklin Middle — with a combined enrollment of 1,820 students. All three share the same district rating (257th of 432 districts statewide, 41st percentile, 2 stars), so the meaningful differences appear school by school rather than district-wide. Each school reports the same eight Forward Exam proficiency measures for 2025-26, plus attendance, poverty, spending, and staffing data, which makes side-by-side comparison straightforward.
Marshall Middle is the clear standout: it ranks 280th of 643 middle schools (56th percentile) and is the only school here with 3 stars. It beats the district average on all eight proficiency measures, averages 57.5% proficient, and has climbed from the 47th to the 56th percentile over three years. Edison Middle is close behind on average (53.5%) and leads the group in 8th grade social studies (68.85%) and science (55.19%), both above district and state; it improved from the 36th to the 46th percentile before leveling off. Franklin Middle ranks 535th of 643 (17th percentile, 1 star) and falls below both district and state on all eight measures, averaging 35.1% — a 22.4-point gap behind Marshall.
Parents should note that resources here run opposite to results: Franklin spends the most per student ($18,203) and has the smallest classes (9.8 students per teacher), yet posts the lowest scores, while also having the highest poverty (66.46%) and chronic absenteeism (30.4%) rates. Marshall has the lowest poverty (45.11%), lowest absenteeism (24.9%), lowest spending ($14,475), and largest classes (13.1). All three schools exceed district (22.0%) and state (17.3%) absenteeism, so attendance is a shared concern. Science is the district's weakest subject (43.75% districtwide vs. 51.86% state), while 8th grade social studies is its strongest.
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