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)
170993000640	651	Byrne Elementary School	Public	K-8	5329 S Oak Park Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2170	591	44	13.5	51.3%	157 (26.6%)	23 (3.9%)	405 (68.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$19,235			$2,837			$16,398	46.3	48.3	623	28
171057001273	652	Cobden Junior High School	Public	6-8	413 N Appleknocker St	Cobden	62920	Union County	Cobden SUD 17	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 893-4031	89	7	12.7	29.2%	67 (75.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (22.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	$12,406			$1,237			$11,169	46.3	46.9	650	2
170000205087	653	Casey-Westfield Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	306 E Edgar Ave	Casey	62420	Clark County	Casey-Westfield CUSD 4C	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 932-2175	375	25	15	53.3%	357 (95.2%)	6 (1.6%)	8 (2.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$13,390			$1,031			$12,359	46.3	47.8	632	21
172505002735	654	Mattoon Middle School	Public	6-8	1200 S 9th St	Mattoon	61938	Coles County	Mattoon CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 238-5800	621	51	12.1	69.7%	498 (80.2%)	28 (4.5%)	41 (6.6%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (7.9%)	$14,935			$1,507			$13,428	46.3	40.5	763	109
174065004086	655	Waltonville Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	802 W Knob St	Waltonville	62894	Jefferson County	Waltonville CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 279-7221	202	18	11.4	48.5%	194 (96.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.0%)	$16,067			$1,497			$14,570	46.1	54.7	521	134
173219003367	656	Pontiac Junior High School	Public	6-8	400 Ashland Ave	Fairview Heights	62208	St. Clair County	Pontiac-W Holliday School District 105	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(618) 233-6004	218	15	14.5	54.1%	69 (31.7%)	98 (45.0%)	17 (7.8%)	7 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (12.4%)	$13,283			$500			$12,783	46.1	64.2	396	260
174396201455	657	Midwest Central Middle School	Public	6-8	121 N Church St	Green Valley	61534	Tazewell County	Midwest Central CUSD 191	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 352-2300	178	12	14.3	50.0%	169 (94.9%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.4%)	$13,621			$694			$12,927	46	51.5	573	84
171992002248	658	Hutsonville Elementary and Junior High School	Public	PK, KG-8	500 W Clover St	Hutsonville	62433	Crawford County	Hutsonville CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 563-4812	214	23	9.2	54.7%	200 (93.5%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.2%)	$16,852			$659			$16,193	45.9	41.7	741	83
171588006553	659	Serena Middle School	Public	5-8	2283 N 3812th Rd	Serena	60549	LaSalle County	Serena CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 496-9250	191	16	12.3	47.6%	166 (86.9%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.7%)	$17,623			$1,258			$16,365	45.8	45.4	681	22
171041001259	660	John L Nash Middle School	Public	5-8	1134 E 3100 North Rd	Clifton	60927	Iroquois County	Central CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 694-2323	276	27	10.3	42.0%	245 (88.8%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.3%)	$14,497			$889			$13,609	45.8	52.9	551	109

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.