Dover High School

Summary:

Dover High School is a public high school located in Dover, Delaware, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 1,771 students. The school is part of the Capital School District, which is ranked 20 out of 32 districts in Delaware and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Dover High School faces several challenges, including a high percentage of African American students (53.98%) compared to the state average, and lower academic performance as measured by standardized test scores, with only 31.73% of 11th-grade students proficient or better in SAT/English Language Arts, compared to the state average of 44.73%. The school's four-year graduation rate has fluctuated, ranging from 83.5% in 2019-2020 to 87.3% in 2021-2022, which is lower than the state average. Additionally, Dover High School has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 19.5% in 2018-2019 to 31.1% in 2022-2023, much higher than the state average.

When compared to nearby schools, Dover High School generally underperforms. For example, Odessa High School, which is 19.74 miles away, has significantly higher academic performance, with 55.56% of 11th-grade students proficient or better in SAT/English Language Arts, compared to Dover High School's 31.73%. Additionally, Dover High School's performance varies significantly among different student subgroups, ranking 5th out of 7 high schools in the state for Asian students, but 21st out of 31 high schools for African American students.


Detail:

Public 9-12

 One Dover High Drive
       Dover, DE  19904


(302) 241-2400

District: Capital School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
28th of 41 Delaware High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $13,251 Help


Student/teacher ratio:  16.5 Help
Number of students:  1,771

Racial breakdown:

African American:
54.0%
White:
21.1%
Hispanic:
15.8%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  42.5% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Dover High School ranks worse than 68.3% of high schools in Delaware. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 27.92. (See more...)
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The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Dover High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.
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The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
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Compare Details Student population at Dover High School is diverse. Racial makeup is: African American (54%), White (21.1%), Hispanic (15.8%). (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Dover High School is 16.5. (See more...)
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Compare Dover High School employs 107.2 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Dover High School is $13,251.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Dover High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Dover High School 28th of 41 Delaware public high schools. (See Dover High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Capital School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Capital School District 20th of 32 Delaware school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Dover High School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2011 29.93 20th 27 25.9%
2012 35.01 17th 27 37.0%
2013 39.60 17th 26 34.6%
2015 39.97 21st 35 40.0%
2016 46.94 15th 31 51.6%
2017 43.35 16th 30 46.7%
2018 39.89 15th 30 50.0%
2019 40.19 21st 40 47.5%
2021 52.26 17th 39 56.4%
2022 31.82 27th 39 30.8%
2023 30.59 26th 39 33.3%
2024 27.92 28th 41 31.7%
See the entire list of Delaware High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 15.48 7th 7 0.0%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 34.33 19th 29 34.5%
2021 25.44 20th 24 16.7%
2022 18.22 24th 28 14.3%
2023 13.08 29th 29 0.0%
2024 23.92 25th 32 21.9%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 40.08 24th 41 41.5%
2021 47.30 17th 36 52.8%
2022 27.87 28th 37 24.3%
2023 29.72 26th 38 31.6%
2024 21.03 32nd 39 17.9%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 37.50 22nd 41 46.3%
2021 48.35 17th 36 52.8%
2022 26.14 26th 37 29.7%
2023 21.12 30th 38 21.1%
2024 27.69 24th 39 38.5%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 12.49 8th 8 0.0%
2021 16.15 5th 5 0.0%
2022 46.79 5th 7 28.6%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 43.23 15th 33 54.5%
2021 45.00 13th 27 51.9%
2022 32.45 22nd 35 37.1%
2023 37.87 18th 31 41.9%
2024 27.49 21st 31 32.3%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 26.30 17th 24 29.2%
2021 54.46 9th 19 52.6%
2022 30.08 15th 22 31.8%
2023 28.99 19th 27 29.6%
2024 35.92 17th 31 45.2%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Dover High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools DE State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 53.02 18th 36 50.0%
2021 72.61 9th 34 73.5%
2022 39.39 19th 33 42.4%
2023 33.54 24th 34 29.4%
2024 33.58 24th 35 31.4%
See the entire list of Best Delaware High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Delaware Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Dover High School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 




Data source: Delaware Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)
100%

0%

0%

0%

0%

  

Reviews:
by a teacher
Thursday, October 29, 2015

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Enrollment information for Dover High School

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 1092 600 37 20 5 n/a n/a 0 1754
1989 1062 537 45 28 13 n/a n/a 0 1685
1990 1014 552 39 24 3 n/a n/a 0 1632
1991 975 527 46 34 7 n/a n/a 0 1589
1992 861 494 20 41 10 n/a n/a 0 1426
1993 818 501 31 31 6 n/a n/a 0 1387
1994 784 500 26 47 13 n/a n/a 0 1370
1995 765 592 34 35 11 n/a n/a 0 1437
1996 765 592 34 35 11 n/a n/a 0 1437
1997 768 576 27 29 9 n/a n/a 0 1409
1998 735 612 30 39 8 n/a n/a 0 1424
1999 739 625 31 39 9 n/a n/a 0 1443
2000 707 571 36 42 7 n/a n/a 0 1363
2001 755 639 43 52 8 n/a n/a 0 1497
2002 735 731 51 62 10 n/a n/a 0 1589
2003 735 731 51 62 10 n/a n/a 0 1589
2004 716 734 49 74 10 n/a n/a 0 1583
2005 665 735 57 67 7 n/a n/a 0 1531
2006 667 718 60 85 4 n/a n/a 0 1534
2007 670 757 60 77 4 n/a n/a 0 1568
2008 603 754 58 83 4 n/a n/a 0 1502
2009 563 760 56 79 11 n/a n/a 0 1469
2010 544 755 54 86 11 n/a n/a 0 1450
2011 556 794 46 112 12 0 4 0 1524
2012 550 775 45 117 11 0 9 0 1507
2013 570 848 44 132 9 0 16 0 1619
2014 567 909 50 146 8 1 15 0 1696
2015 617 998 59 160 13 2 17 0 1866
2016 590 957 63 151 15 4 20 0 1800
2017 578 976 71 171 15 4 30 0 1845
2018 559 932 56 187 22 3 30 0 1789
2019 510 954 67 185 18 4 36 0 1774
2020 458 963 78 217 17 5 52 0 1790
2021 440 950 71 219 20 6 62 0 1768
2022 425 955 66 215 15 9 63 0 1748
2023 373 956 54 279 14 9 86 0 1771

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Dover High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 1754 94.8 18.5 12.8
1989 1685 97.8 17.2 11.3
1990 1632 98.0 16.6 11
1991 1589 97.5 16.2 13.5
1992 1426 80.5 17.7 13.9
1993 1387 79.5 17.4 18.1
1994 1370 76.5 17.9 19.4
1995 1437 78.0 18.4 22.7
1996 1437 78.0 18.4 22.7
1997 1409 79.0 17.8 21.9
1998 1424 82.8 17.2 22.4
1999 1443 81.5 17.7 26.4
2000 1363 84.0 16.2 25.2
2001 1497 85.0 17.6 23
2002 1589 95.0 16.7 29.8
2003 1589 95.0 16.7 29.8
2004 1583 97.5 16.2 32.1
2005 1531 96.5 15.9 33.2
2006 1534 93.0 16.5 34.5
2007 1568 97.5 16.1 35.4
2008 1502 98.5 15.2 37
2009 1469 97.5 15.1 30.6
2010 1450 105.0 13.8 47
2011 1524 104.0 14.6 48.4
2012 1507 105.0 14.3 41.5
2013 1619 113.0 14.3 57.6
2014 1696 117.0 14.4 42.5
2015 1866 121.0 15.4 38.8
2016 1800 114.0 15.7 42.5
2017 1845 115.0 16.0 n/a
2018 1789 117.0 15.2 n/a
2019 1774 117.0 15.1 n/a
2020 1790 114.0 15.7 n/a
2021 1768 119.2 14.8 n/a
2022 1748 110.2 15.8 n/a
2023 1771 107.2 16.5 n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Dover High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 1754 94.8 18.5 12.8
1989 1685 97.8 17.2 11.3
1990 1632 98.0 16.6 11
1991 1589 97.5 16.2 13.5
1992 1426 80.5 17.7 13.9
1993 1387 79.5 17.4 18.1
1994 1370 76.5 17.9 19.4
1995 1437 78.0 18.4 22.7
1996 1437 78.0 18.4 22.7
1997 1409 79.0 17.8 21.9
1998 1424 82.8 17.2 22.4
1999 1443 81.5 17.7 26.4
2000 1363 84.0 16.2 25.2
2001 1497 85.0 17.6 23
2002 1589 95.0 16.7 29.8
2003 1589 95.0 16.7 29.8
2004 1583 97.5 16.2 32.1
2005 1531 96.5 15.9 33.2
2006 1534 93.0 16.5 34.5
2007 1568 97.5 16.1 35.4
2008 1502 98.5 15.2 37
2009 1469 97.5 15.1 30.6
2010 1450 105.0 13.8 47
2011 1524 104.0 14.6 48.4
2012 1507 105.0 14.3 41.5
2013 1619 113.0 14.3 57.6
2014 1696 117.0 14.4 42.5
2015 1866 121.0 15.4 38.8
2016 1800 114.0 15.7 42.5
2017 1845 115.0 16.0 n/a
2018 1789 117.0 15.2 n/a
2019 1774 117.0 15.1 n/a
2020 1790 114.0 15.7 n/a
2021 1768 119.2 14.8 n/a
2022 1748 110.2 15.8 n/a
2023 1771 107.2 16.5 n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Dover High School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $697 (5.3%) $13,690 (103.3%) $13,251

Data source: Delaware Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Dover High School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 21st of 40 High schoolsRanks 26th of 39 High schools
 14.2%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
11th Grade English Language Arts (Dover High School)38.534.8
 3.7%
   11th Grade English Language Arts (Capital School District)37.834.8
 3%
   11th Grade English Language Arts (Delaware)48.544.2
 4.3%
11th Grade Mathematics (Dover High School)17.915
 2.8%
   11th Grade Mathematics (Capital School District)17.815
 2.7%
   11th Grade Mathematics (Delaware)28.322.9
 5.4%
11th Grade Essay (Dover High School)4633.4
 12.5%
   11th Grade Essay (Capital School District)45.433.4
 11.9%
   11th Grade Essay (Delaware)42.941.5
 1.4%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students17741771
 0.2%
African American954956
 0.2%
American Indian1814
 22.2%
Asian6754
 19.4%
Hispanic185279
 50.8%
Pacific Islander49
 125%
White510373
 26.9%
Two or More Races3686
 138.9%


Schools Near Dover High School









Frequently Asked Questions about Dover High School

In the 2022-23 school year, 1,771 students attended Dover High School.

Dover High School ranks 28th of 41 Delaware high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Students at Dover High School are 54% African American, 21% White, 16% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 3% Asian.


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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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