Plainview School, Rainsville AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Plainview School

Plainview School is a single-building public school that serves all grades from pre-kindergarten through twelve in Rainsville, a small city atop Sand Mountain in northeastern Alabama. Its enrollment is substantial for a school that covers every grade under one roof, drawing from the surrounding community and the rural stretches of DeKalb County. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable share of students who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native and a substantial Hispanic population. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the economic context families bring into the building.

The school sits in a community that blends residential streets, commercial strips, and working farms. Rainsville is described locally as the financial and healthcare hub of central Sand Mountain, with a concentration of banks and medical businesses. Manufacturing leads the employment sectors, and small farms remain a visible part of the landscape. The city has grown steadily since incorporation, though at an incremental pace; no large-scale developments or subdivisions have been publicly reported in recent searches. Housing values in the area sit near the statewide benchmark and well below the national median, giving the market an accessible feel for families buying or renting. The district itself reported no recent major changes in budget, curriculum, or building plans that would alter a family’s day-to-day experience.

Academically, Plainview School shows a split picture by subject that a parent may want to examine grade by grade. On the English language arts assessments, students across grades three through eight perform at levels that are broadly strong, with most grade-level groups showing proficiency well above the midpoint. The early elementary years are particularly solid, and even the lower middle school grades hold at a level that many schools would consider a strength. In mathematics, the picture is more uneven. The lower grades post respectable proficiency rates, but performance drops sharply as students move into sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Seventh- and eighth-grade math scores are the softest spot in the school’s academic profile. Science results, available for grades four and eight, place fourth-grade proficiency lower and eighth-grade proficiency higher, with the overall science average similar to the math average. Because the data covers only a single year, there is no way to tell whether these patterns are new or long-standing. The school’s overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades places it ahead of the other district in DeKalb County, which is a small field but a real distinction.

Because the school serves all grades, families considering Plainview will find a steady environment where children can move from kindergarten through high school without changing schools. That continuity can be an advantage for students who thrive on familiar routines and long-term relationships with staff. It also means that the high school component shares the same campus and same administrators as the elementary and middle grades. Data on high school outcomes such as graduation rate, college-going, and college readiness courses were not available in the report, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those results. Career and technical education options exist at the DeKalb County Technology Center in Rainsville, which is publicly recognized as a strong program in the region.

The school’s discipline environment, attendance patterns, staffing ratios, and course access details were also absent from the available information, so those are open questions for a family making a choice. The share of students receiving special education services or English learner support was not provided, though the demographic data suggests a multilingual community is present. Title I status was not reported, but the free-and-reduced-price lunch rate indicates that the school likely receives some federal support for low-income students.

For a family weighing Plainview School, the core academic draw is the consistent English language arts performance, especially in the elementary years. The math dip in middle school is a point worth exploring with the principal or a current teacher. The community is affordable, small, and grounded in a mix of agriculture and local industry, with a pace of growth that has been steady but not disruptive. The school is the only public school in town, so it is the natural option for most residents in Rainsville and the surrounding rural area. For those looking for a single-school pathway from pre-K through graduation in a community that is not transient or rapidly changing, Plainview School fits that profile.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 71 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

373 schools plotted. 7 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 46% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 36% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 38% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 34% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 16% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 15% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 61% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 53% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 65% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 50% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 777%

School 77% · District 49% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 49% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Science

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 33% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 33% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

This schoolDeKalb County, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income84%Higher-income89%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income69%Higher-income84%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income54%Higher-income86%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income58%Higher-income80%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income49%Higher-income62%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income42%13 pp gap