Summary:
The Fayette R-III school district in Missouri has only one middle school, Wm. N. Clark Middle, which serves grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 145 students. This school is struggling to provide a high-quality education, as evidenced by its low performance on state assessments, high chronic absenteeism rate, and overall low ranking among Missouri middle schools.
Wm. N. Clark Middle's proficiency rates on the MAP tests are significantly below the state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 8th grade math, only 11.2% of students were proficient or better, compared to the state average of 30.6%. The school's overall ranking among Missouri middle schools has also declined over the past three years, from 341 out of 459 in 2022-2023 to 376 out of 451 in 2023-2024. Additionally, the school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 18.0% for the 2023-2024 school year, indicating that a significant number of students are missing a substantial amount of instructional time.
Despite the school's relatively high per-student spending of $8,689 for the 2021-2022 school year and a low student-teacher ratio of 13.6 to 1, the academic outcomes remain poor. This suggests that the issue may not be a lack of resources, but rather how those resources are being utilized and allocated to support student learning. The school also serves a population with significant socioeconomic challenges, with 42.76% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, which may require additional support and resources to help students overcome these barriers to learning.
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