Is Stephen Decatur Middle School a good school?

Stephen Decatur Middle School ranks in the bottom 0.5% of Illinois middle schools.

How many students attend Stephen Decatur Middle School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 459 students attended Stephen Decatur Middle School.

What is the racial makeup of Stephen Decatur Middle School?

Students at Stephen Decatur Middle School are 44% African American, 37% White, 14% Two or more races, 4% Hispanic.

What high school do graduates of Stephen Decatur Middle School attend?

Students who attend Stephen Decatur Middle School usually go on to attend Eisenhower High School

Stephen Decatur Middle School

Summary:

Stephen Decatur Middle School is a public middle school in Decatur, Illinois, serving 459 students in grades 7-8. The school is part of the Decatur School District 61, which is ranked 806 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Stephen Decatur Middle School has consistently ranked in the bottom 10% of Illinois middle schools over the past decade, with a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger for most of that time. The school has extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 22.7% in 2019-2020 to 67.9% in 2021-2022, which is significantly higher than the state average and the surrounding schools. Academically, the school's performance is very low, with only 6.5% of students proficient or better in ELA and 0.4% proficient or better in Math in 2023-2024, compared to state averages of 41.2% and 28.1%, respectively. The school's performance is particularly low for certain student subgroups, such as African American students and low-income students, who ranked in the bottom 1% of Illinois middle schools in 2023-2024.

Interestingly, the nearby middle schools, such as Deland-Weldon Middle School, Bement Middle School, and Warrensburg-Latham Middle School, generally perform much better than Stephen Decatur Middle School on academic measures, despite serving similar or smaller student populations. For example, Bement Middle School had 62.7% of students proficient or better in ELA, compared to just 6.5% at Stephen Decatur. Despite the consistently low performance, Stephen Decatur Middle School has not shown any significant improvement over the past decade.

Detail:

Public 7-8

1 Educational Park
Decatur, IL 62526-2548

(217) 362-3251

District: Decatur School District 61

SchoolDigger Rank:
1356^th of 1,363 Illinois Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $22,355

Students who attend Stephen Decatur Middle School usually attend:

High:	Eisenhower High School
	MacArthur High School

Feeder schools for Stephen Decatur Middle School:

Elementary:	Franklin Grove Elementary School
	Michael E Baum Elementary School
	Muffley Elementary School
	Parsons Elementary School
	More...
	South Shores Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 15.8

Number of students: 459

Racial breakdown:

African American:

43.6%

White:

37.5%

Two or more races:

14.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 83%

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Stephen Decatur Middle School ranks worse than 99.5% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 8.74. (See more...)

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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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Stephen Decatur Middle School is $22,355.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Stephen Decatur Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Stephen Decatur Middle School 1356^th of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Stephen Decatur Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

African American students:

White students:

Decatur School District 61:

SchoolDigger ranks Decatur School District 61 806^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Stephen Decatur Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	15.49	991^st	1185	16.4%
2004	17.78	981^st	1204	18.5%
2005	14.26	1027^th	1209	15.1%
2006	10.57	1141^st	1272	10.3%
2007	12.30	1138^th	1287	11.6%
2008	17.61	1097^th	1293	15.2%
2009	13.13	1174^th	1318	10.9%
2010	21.87	1107^th	1327	16.6%
2011	26.35	1092^nd	1344	18.8%
2012	15.61	1214^th	1365	11.1%
2013	7.92	1297^th	1367	5.1%
2014	10.09	1227^th	1322	7.2%
2015	10.84	1245^th	1302	4.4%
2016	12.82	1205^th	1294	6.9%
2017	9.45	1253^rd	1293	3.1%
2018	11.74	1217^th	1293	5.9%
2019	13.92	1219^th	1356	10.1%
2021	11.94	1200^th	1241	3.3%
2022	10.69	1355^th	1369	1.0%
2023	9.63	1343^rd	1367	1.8%
2024	8.74	1356^th	1363	0.5%

See the entire list of Illinois Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	9.41	162^nd	164	1.2%
2019	6.80	176^th	179	1.7%
2021	9.16	97^th	97	0.0%
2022	8.44	195^th	195	0.0%
2023	12.26	183^rd	194	5.7%
2024	10.81	179^th	184	2.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	24.64	570^th	602	5.3%
2019	24.58	756^th	792	4.5%
2021	26.00	472^nd	548	13.9%
2022	26.83	734^th	781	6.0%
2023	18.48	788^th	805	2.1%
2024	17.55	773^rd	802	3.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	14.00	1105^th	1161	4.8%
2019	17.41	1108^th	1217	9.0%
2021	14.22	1000^th	1019	1.9%
2022	12.33	1216^th	1221	0.4%
2023	11.44	1220^th	1234	1.1%
2024	9.21	1217^th	1219	0.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.81	1150^th	1226	6.2%
2019	14.93	1137^th	1276	10.9%
2021	9.54	999^th	1017	1.8%
2022	9.89	1272^nd	1286	1.1%
2023	8.63	1260^th	1275	1.2%
2024	7.92	1245^th	1251	0.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	23.05	621^st	674	7.9%
2024	22.85	584^th	639	8.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	12.33	1151^st	1223	5.9%
2019	13.39	1200^th	1296	7.4%
2021	12.84	1008^th	1048	3.8%
2022	12.97	1225^th	1286	4.7%
2023	11.75	1250^th	1292	3.3%
2024	10.50	1234^th	1264	2.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	17.22	504^th	511	1.4%
2019	23.23	498^th	565	11.9%
2021	23.92	355^th	385	7.8%
2022	18.97	569^th	573	0.7%
2023	15.60	569^th	569	0.0%
2024	13.97	547^th	548	0.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for White students at Stephen Decatur Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	7.91	862^nd	889	3.0%
2019	9.46	866^th	905	4.3%
2021	6.56	812^th	813	0.1%
2022	4.84	895^th	898	0.3%
2023	3.89	892^nd	895	0.3%
2024	3.49	872^nd	875	0.3%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board 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.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Stephen Decatur Middle School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
2001	295	257	5	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	561
2002	240	253	1	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	501
2003	240	253	1	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	501
2004	253	283	8	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	546
2005	300	347	2	5	3	n/a	n/a	27	684
2006	284	319	2	5	2	n/a	n/a	31	643
2007	238	238	2	5	2	n/a	n/a	26	511
2008	233	227	2	6	1	n/a	n/a	27	496
2009	195	206	1	1	1	n/a	n/a	28	432
2010	214	219	1	5	0	n/a	n/a	41	480
2011	220	208	3	5	0	0	58	0	494
2012	184	185	4	6	2	0	42	0	423
2013	127	200	0	7	3	0	47	0	384
2014	127	207	0	8	1	0	53	0	396
2015	132	163	1	11	1	0	38	0	346
2016	119	168	2	12	2	0	34	0	337
2017	148	175	0	12	2	0	49	0	386
2018	120	154	0	13	1	0	56	0	344
2019	127	158	0	14	1	0	45	0	345
2020	338	459	5	14	1	0	2	0	819
2021	235	283	4	17	3	1	84	0	627
2022	158	224	5	21	3	1	73	0	485
2023	172	200	0	17	2	2	66	0	459

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 Stephen Decatur Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
2001	561	29.7	18.9	n/a
2002	501	24.2	20.7	59.1
2003	501	24.2	20.7	59.1
2004	546	24.4	22.4	70.3
2005	684	40.5	16.9	73.8
2006	643	37.0	17.4	83.2
2007	511	47.0	10.9	n/a
2008	496	36.0	13.8	80.4
2009	432	36.5	11.8	n/a
2010	480	39.1	12.2	n/a
2011	494	35.3	13.9	77.5
2012	423	37.6	11.2	79
2013	384	49.4	7.7	83.3
2014	396	26.7	14.8	81.1
2015	346	30.0	11.5	85.5
2016	337	4.0	84.2	80.4
2017	386	16.0	24.1	65.5
2018	344	27.2	12.6	76.5
2019	345	4.0	86.2	68.4
2020	819	30.0	27.3	81
2021	627	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	485	32.0	15.1	77.7
2023	459	29.0	15.8	83

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 Stephen Decatur Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
2001	561	29.7	18.9	n/a
2002	501	24.2	20.7	59.1
2003	501	24.2	20.7	59.1
2004	546	24.4	22.4	70.3
2005	684	40.5	16.9	73.8
2006	643	37.0	17.4	83.2
2007	511	47.0	10.9	n/a
2008	496	36.0	13.8	80.4
2009	432	36.5	11.8	n/a
2010	480	39.1	12.2	n/a
2011	494	35.3	13.9	77.5
2012	423	37.6	11.2	79
2013	384	49.4	7.7	83.3
2014	396	26.7	14.8	81.1
2015	346	30.0	11.5	85.5
2016	337	4.0	84.2	80.4
2017	386	16.0	24.1	65.5
2018	344	27.2	12.6	76.5
2019	345	4.0	86.2	68.4
2020	819	30.0	27.3	81
2021	627	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	485	32.0	15.1	77.7
2023	459	29.0	15.8	83

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.

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