Summary:
The Palestine-Wheatley School District in Arkansas serves two schools: Palestine-Wheatley Elementary School and Palestine-Wheatley Senior High. The district faces significant socioeconomic challenges, with both schools reporting extremely high rates of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, over 99% in both cases.
While the schools' test scores generally lag behind state averages, there are some bright spots. The high school has seen its statewide ranking improve in recent years, moving from 173rd out of 282 Arkansas high schools in 2021-2022 to 98th out of 305 in 2023-2024, earning a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger. Additionally, the high school outperforms the state in 10th grade English Language Arts proficiency. The elementary school also shows promise, with its 3rd grade math proficiency rate of 44.1% exceeding the state average of 37.8%.
A key difference between the two schools is their student-teacher ratios, with the high school having a much lower ratio of 5.6 compared to the elementary school's 16.5. This may contribute to the high school's relatively stronger performance. Overall, the Palestine-Wheatley School District faces significant challenges, but there are indications that the high school, in particular, is making progress and finding ways to support its students despite the socioeconomic hurdles.
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