Summary:
The Nogales Unified District in Arizona is home to two high schools: Nogales High School and Pierson High School. While both schools serve predominantly Hispanic student populations, the data reveals stark differences in their academic performance and outcomes.
Nogales High School emerges as the stronger performing school, with a much higher enrollment of 1,796 students, a 93.9% four-year graduation rate, and lower dropout rates compared to Pierson High School. Nogales High School also outperforms the district and state averages on standardized test scores in English Language Arts and Math for 11th-grade students. In contrast, Pierson High School lags behind, ranking in the bottom 5% of Arizona high schools and having very low proficiency rates on state assessments.
The data also reveals that despite Pierson High School spending significantly more per student ($10,718) compared to Nogales High School ($6,013), it is still underperforming. This suggests that simply increasing funding may not be the sole solution to improving academic outcomes, and that other factors, such as resource allocation and school culture, may play a crucial role in shaping student success.
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