The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Er Dickson Elementary School
ER Dickson Elementary School, a regular public school in Mobile serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, operates within the Mobile County school system. It sits in a largely residential section of the city west of downtown, an area of suburban-style development in a city that sprawls across a large geographic footprint. Mobile itself is a mid-size port city, a regional economic hub with deep-water port operations, aerospace manufacturing, and shipbuilding anchoring the local economy. The city’s recent west annexation reshaped its population and demographics, and the school serves a community shaped by that broader urban context.
The school is on the larger side for an elementary, with a substantial number of students enrolled across all grades from pre-K through fifth. The student body is diverse, with the largest share of students identifying as Black, followed by White, then Hispanic, with smaller shares of students identifying as Asian, two or more races, and other groups. A significant majority of students come from families with low enough incomes to qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic realities of the surrounding neighborhood and broader district.
On the Alabama state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, student proficiency rates in math were low across the tested grades, with a single-digit share of students meeting the proficiency bar in third, fourth, and fifth grades. English language arts results were higher than math but still modest, with roughly a third to just over two-fifths of students scoring proficient depending on the grade. In fourth-grade science, about a quarter of students met proficiency. When all tested subjects and grades are combined into a single proficiency index, ER Dickson Elementary’s composite result falls below the midpoint among the school districts in Mobile County. Because only one year of comparable assessment data is available, there is no way to tell whether these results reflect a recent change or an established pattern; a parent may want to ask the school about year-over-year trends and any improvement efforts underway.
The school offers a regular elementary program, as no special magnet, charter, or alternative designation is listed. No information was provided on course offerings, enrichment programs, or extracurriculars, so that is a gap to explore directly with the school. Staffing ratios, teacher qualifications, and class sizes were also absent from the available data. Similarly, data on discipline, chronic absenteeism, and student support services were not available, leaving an incomplete picture of the day-to-day school environment. A family considering ER Dickson would want to follow up on these details during a tour or conversation with the principal.
The school building is located in the western part of Mobile, in an area where car travel is the norm. Housing values in the surrounding ZIP code are broadly in line with the state-wide median, with rents also moderate relative to national benchmarks. The neighborhood is a mix of older residential streets and newer development, with the city’s downtown cultural and entertainment district a drive away.
Because the school serves only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate or high school transition data to consider. The district brief found little publicly reported about recent system-level changes, so the school’s academic context appears stable at the district level.
ER Dickson Elementary is a large, diverse elementary school serving a high-poverty urban neighborhood in Mobile. Its academic proficiency on state assessments is low relative to other schools in the county. Families should investigate the school’s instructional strategies, support for students who are below grade level, and any intervention programs in place, as well as the school’s overall climate and enrichment opportunities, to determine whether the environment matches their child’s needs.
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