Edgewood Elementary School, Selma AL

Original Research by School Decision on Edgewood Elementary School

Edgewood Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in Selma, Alabama, as part of the Selma City district. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The student body is overwhelmingly Black, and a substantial share of families qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The school sits in a city that has experienced decades of population decline, a shrinking industrial and agricultural base, and persistent poverty. The district has publicly stated its strategic priorities around literacy, college and career readiness, and social-emotional learning, and it runs a STEAM-focused middle school, but those are system-wide efforts, not programs specific to Edgewood.

Academic performance on Alabama’s state assessments is low across tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, the share of students meeting the proficiency bar is in the single-digit to low teen range for each grade level from third through sixth. English language arts results are somewhat higher but still limited: roughly one in three students score proficient in grades three and four, about half in grade five, and a much smaller share in grade six. Science, tested only in fourth grade, shows about one in five students proficient. Compared with other school districts in Dallas County, Edgewood falls in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency. Only one year of test results was available, so no trend over time can be assessed.

The school’s environment reflects the broader challenges of Selma. The city has lost a significant portion of its peak population since the 1960s, and a 2023 tornado caused heavy damage to many buildings, adding to existing disinvestment. Housing values in the area are well below state and national medians, and rents have been rising slowly. Economic hardship is widespread, and a large share of residents live at or below the poverty line.

Several data points that might inform a family’s decision are missing from the public record available here. There are no figures on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios. Special education and English learner populations are not reported at this school. No information on course offerings, extracurriculars, or after-school programs was provided. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider.

For a parent or resident evaluating Edgewood Elementary, the clearest picture is of a high-need school in a community facing deep economic challenges, where state assessment results are well below typical levels across all tested subjects. The district has put forward a strategic plan focused on literacy and career readiness, and it has reorganized its middle school around a STEAM theme, but how these initiatives translate into daily instruction at Edgewood is not documented in the available data. A parent may want to visit the school, speak with teachers and the principal, and inquire directly about the specific academic supports, interventions, and enrichment opportunities in place for students.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 26% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 22% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 16% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 47% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 32% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 13% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

This schoolSelma 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income100%70 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income0%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income8%Higher-income100%92 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income14%Higher-income0%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income10%Higher-income0%9 pp gap