Aliquippa School District

The Aliquippa School District in Pennsylvania operates two schools: Aliquippa Elementary School and Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School. Both schools face significant challenges, with consistently low performance across multiple metrics compared to state averages.

Test scores at both schools are alarmingly low, with proficiency rates in Math, Science, and English Language Arts well below state standards. For example, only 4.9% of students at Aliquippa Elementary were proficient in Math, compared to the state average of 40.4%. At the high school level, just 4.3% of 11th graders were proficient in Algebra I and Biology. The district's graduation rate of 87.5% is also slightly below the state average, though the dropout rate is relatively low.

Despite the high per-student spending in the district, which exceeds the state average, and the small class sizes, the academic outcomes remain poor. This suggests that factors beyond funding and class size, such as curriculum, instruction, and support services, may be more critical in driving student success. Additionally, the extremely high rates of free and reduced lunch recipients, over 85% at both schools, indicate significant economic disadvantages within the student population that likely contribute to the low performance and require targeted interventions and support.