Summary:
The Whiteside School District 115 in Illinois operates two schools: Whiteside Elementary School and Whiteside Middle School. While both schools serve a predominantly economically disadvantaged population, with high rates of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, the middle school appears to be the stronger performer of the two.
Whiteside Middle School outperforms the elementary school in both English Language Arts and Mathematics proficiency rates, sometimes by over 10 percentage points. The middle school's ELA proficiency rates are closer to the state averages, while the elementary school lags behind. However, both schools have relatively high chronic absenteeism rates, around 18-19%, which is higher than the state average and likely impacting overall academic performance.
Despite the higher spending per student, around $11,500 at both schools, the academic outcomes do not seem to be translating, particularly at the elementary level. The district may want to evaluate how resources are being allocated and utilized to address these performance gaps. Targeted support and interventions for the predominantly economically disadvantaged student population could also be beneficial in improving outcomes across the district.
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