Best High Schools in Alabama for Special Education Students

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

Every year, the Alabama State 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 Alabama 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 Summative Assessment test scores by the Alabama State Department of Education. The most recent update was on Friday, August 9, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2024)
ID	Rank (of 198)	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)
010249001056	1	Mountain Brook High School	Public	10-12	3650 Bethune Dr	Mountain Brook	35223	Jefferson County	Mountain Brook City	No	No	No	No	(205) 414-3800	967	95	10.1	2.6%	915 (94.6%)	3 (0.3%)	16 (1.7%)	8 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (2.6%)	$16,839			$115			$16,723	99.5%	99.5%	0.02%
010027000100	2	Fairhope High School	Public	9-12	18800 Greeno Rd	Fairhope	36532	Baldwin County	Baldwin County	No	No	No	No	(251) 928-8309	1,629	101	16.1	31.0%	1,286 (78.9%)	108 (6.6%)	120 (7.4%)	17 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	96 (5.9%)	$8,721			$471			$8,244	99.0%	98.7%	0.31%
010000701456	3	Spain Park High School	Public	9-12	4700 Jaguar Drive	Hoover	35242	Shelby County	Hoover City	No	No	No	No	(205) 439-1400	1,503	99	15.1	27.7%	920 (61.2%)	280 (18.6%)	150 (10.0%)	101 (6.7%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	49 (3.3%)	$13,243			$825			$12,416	98.5%	97.6%	0.87%
010303001171	4	Chelsea High School	Public	9-12	10510 Highway 11	Chelsea	35043	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-7200	1,400	77	18.1	22.9%	1,155 (82.5%)	126 (9.0%)	67 (4.8%)	23 (1.6%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (1.9%)	$9,012			$589			$8,406	98.0%	93.4%	4.59%
010222000843	5	New Hope High School	Public	7-12	5216 Main Dr	New Hope	35760	Madison County	Madison County	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 851-3280	586	36	16.2	57.3%	426 (72.7%)	39 (6.7%)	34 (5.8%)	2 (0.3%)	62 (10.6%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.9%)	$12,045			$1,607			$10,399	97.5%	65.6%	31.87%
010000802198	6	James Clemens High School	Public	9-12	11306 County Line Road	Madison	35756	Limestone County	Madison City	No	No	No	No	(256) 216-5313	2,149	120	17.9	21.1%	1,218 (56.7%)	426 (19.8%)	180 (8.4%)	213 (9.9%)	12 (0.6%)	4 (0.2%)	96 (4.5%)	$9,387			$717			$8,640	97.0%	97.1%	0.12%
010336002101	7	Paul W Bryant High School	Public	9-12	6315 Mary Harmon Bryant Drive	Cottondale	35453	Tuscaloosa County	Tuscaloosa City	No	No	No	Yes	(205) 759-3538	1,042	51	20.3	48.5%	54 (5.2%)	899 (86.3%)	69 (6.6%)	6 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.7%)	6 (0.6%)	$9,385			$1,183			$8,183	96.5%	16.4%	80.06%
010303002191	8	Helena High School	Public	9-12	1310 Hillsboro Parkway	Helena	35080	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-3650	1,418	77	18.4	27.9%	1,016 (71.7%)	225 (15.9%)	123 (8.7%)	19 (1.3%)	5 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	29 (2.0%)	$8,579			$631			$7,932	96.0%	91.5%	4.43%
010343001304	9	Vestavia Hills High School	Public	10-12	2235 Lime Rock Rd	Vestavia Hills	35216	Jefferson County	Vestavia Hills City	No	No	No	No	(205) 402-5250	1,578	114	13.8	10.4%	1,289 (81.7%)	87 (5.5%)	56 (3.5%)	105 (6.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (2.5%)	$12,105			$678			$11,425	95.5%	98.9%	3.49%
010099000370	10	Cullman High School	Public	9-12	510 13th St NE	Cullman	35055	Cullman County	Cullman City	No	No	No	No	(256) 734-3923	997	62	16.1	31.3%	855 (85.8%)	6 (0.6%)	93 (9.3%)	14 (1.4%)	7 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (2.2%)	$10,356			$703			$9,650	94.9%	96.3%	1.35%

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Alabama

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for AL 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 Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Summative Assessment Mathematics, Summative Assessment Science, Summative Assessment English test scores released by the Alabama State Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 9, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Alabama State 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 Alabama State Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Alabama State Department of Education.