Best Middle Schools in Illinois

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Find the best Illinois middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Illinois 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 IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 1363)	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	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
173042005020	891	Winston Campus Junior High	Public	7-8	120 N Babcock Dr	Palatine	60074	Cook County	Palatine CCSD 15	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 963-7400	591	59	10	71.1%	104 (17.6%)	29 (4.9%)	410 (69.4%)	32 (5.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.4%)	$19,733			$1,080			$18,654	30.5	34.9	847	44
173300005054	892	Quincy Junior High School	Public	6-8	100 S 14th St	Quincy	62301	Adams County	Quincy School District 172	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 222-3073	1,348	82	16.3	60.4%	1,017 (75.4%)	111 (8.2%)	45 (3.3%)	11 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	160 (11.9%)	$11,923			$2,286			$9,637	30.5	38.7	797	95
174305004321	893	Lewis-Clark Junior High School	Public	6-8	501 E Lorena Ave	Wood River	62095	Madison County	Wood River-Hartford Education Service District 15	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 254-4355	195	14	14.1	76.4%	155 (79.5%)	15 (7.7%)	10 (5.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (7.2%)	$17,274			$2,260			$15,014	30.4	21	1094	201
170143106434	894	Bronzeville Academy Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	4930 S Cottage Grove Ave	Chicago	60615	Cook County	Bronzeville Academy Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 285-8040	330	1	330	95.8%	0 (0.0%)	330 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,023			$1,476			$21,547	30.4	14.5	1245	351
170651000334	895	Nathan Hale Middle School	Public	6-8	5220 135th St	Crestwood	60445	Cook County	Cook County School District 130	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 385-6690	335	33	10.3	79.4%	79 (23.6%)	88 (26.3%)	159 (47.5%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.5%)	$22,190			$3,980			$18,210	30.4	26.7	973	78
171371001691	896	Tefft Middle School	Public	7-8	1100 Shirley Ave	Streamwood	60107	Cook County	School District U-46	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 213-5540	730	59	12.4	57.0%	94 (12.9%)	63 (8.6%)	509 (69.7%)	43 (5.9%)	9 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (1.6%)	$16,660			$1,653			$15,006	30.4	30.3	908	12
171566005508	897	Fox River Grove Middle School	Public	5-8	401 Orchard St	Fox River Grove	60021	McHenry County	Fox River Grove Cons School District 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(847) 516-5105	176	16	11.1	17.6%	144 (81.8%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (9.1%)	4 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (6.8%)	$16,729			$495			$16,234	30.3	54	530	367
170138805917	898	Dallas City Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	921 Creamery Hill Rd	Dallas City	62330	Hancock County	Dallas Education Service District 327	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 852-3201	169	16	10.9	73.4%	158 (93.5%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	6 (3.6%)	$17,180			$2,535			$14,646	30.3	37.2	811	87
170993000964	899	Talcott Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1840 W Ohio St	Chicago	60622	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-7130	437	37	11.9	71.9%	38 (8.7%)	28 (6.4%)	356 (81.5%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.1%)	$20,388			$3,609			$16,778	30.3	29.5	922	23
171337003896	900	Chrisman-Scottland Junior High School	Public	6-8	23231 IL Highway 1	Chrisman	61924	Edgar County	Edgar County CUD 6	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 269-3980	69	7	10	44.9%	64 (92.8%)	3 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	$12,271			$107			$12,164	30.3	22	1072	172

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Disabled Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Illinois State Board 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 Illinois State Board of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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