Washington K8, Birmingham AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Washington K8

Washington K8 is a regular public school in Birmingham, Alabama, serving students from Pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the Birmingham City school district. The school itself is a neighborhood-based campus, located in the downtown area of a mid-sized city that functions as a major regional hub for the Deep South, with an economy centered on healthcare, banking, and higher education. The City of Birmingham has seen a modest population decline in recent years, and the school district has responded with a consolidation plan approved in 2023 that addresses falling enrollment and aging infrastructure by merging several schools and repurposing buildings through 2027. This district-wide context matters for families considering Washington K8, as it reflects a system undergoing structural change.

The student body is diverse. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial and ethnic composition is mixed, with a majority of students identifying as Black or African American and a large Hispanic population. A small number of students identify as white, and very small numbers identify as Asian or as two or more races. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Special population counts for students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the data, so a parent may want to follow up with the school directly on those programs and services.

The academic picture from state testing shows a sharp split by grade level and subject. In the earlier elementary grades, a strong share of students met or exceeded proficiency in both math and reading, with the highest performance seen in third-grade reading. This is a clear strength for the early years. However, performance drops steeply beginning in fifth grade and becomes markedly low in the middle school grades. By sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, math proficiency is thin, and reading proficiency is also low. Science results in fourth and eighth grade are similarly low. Overall, when averaged across all tested grades and subjects, the school's proficiency index lands above the midpoint among districts in Jefferson County. That is a relatively positive position within a large county cohort, but the data also makes clear that the strong early-grade results are not sustaining as students move into the upper grades. A parent considering this school should look into how the school supports students during the transition to middle school and whether there are specific interventions in place for math and science in the older grades.

The school building is located on Fourth Avenue South in Birmingham. The district opened a new Career Tech Academy in 2023, but that is a high school-level facility, so it does not directly affect Washington K8 students. The Alabama Literacy Act, a state mandate requiring third-grade retention for students who do not meet reading benchmarks, has taken effect, and the district has responded by placing reading coaches and implementing new literacy interventions. Washington K8's relatively strong third-grade reading results suggest the school may be in a better position to meet that mandate than other district schools, though a parent should still check how the school identifies and supports struggling readers.

State testing data was available for the most recent school year, so a multi-year trend was not yet computable. The data provides one snapshot in time, not a trajectory. The school offers Pre-K, which is a resource for families with young children, and it continues through eighth grade, meaning a student could attend the same building from early childhood through the end of middle school before transitioning to a Birmingham City high school.

For housing context, the area's home values and rents are accessible relative to national benchmarks, consistent with a mid-sized Southern city. The school is in a city neighborhood rather than a suburban setting, and walkability and street life vary significantly within Birmingham's large geographic footprint. A family's daily experience will depend heavily on which part of the city they live in and their commute patterns.

Overall, Washington K8 shows strong early elementary academics in a diverse, high-poverty city school, with a notable drop-off in middle school performance that a prospective family would want to explore. The district is actively consolidating and investing in career pathways at the high school level, but the K-8 experience at this building appears to be one where a family would want clear answers on how the school intends to address the middle-grade slide in math and science.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 27% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 20% · ▲ 51 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 22% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 68%

School 8% · District 13% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 75%

School 5% · District 9% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 7% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 49% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 45% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 34% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 35% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 33% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 15% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 16%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolBirmingham City, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.