The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Early College School at Del State
Early College School at Del State sits on North DuPont Highway in Dover, Delaware's capital city. It is a charter school serving grades seven through twelve, with a mission built around dual enrollment at Delaware State University. The school's student body is predominantly Black, with smaller Hispanic, white, and multiracial populations. Enrollment is moderate for a secondary school of this grade range, and the largest grade cohort sits in ninth grade. The school has grown in recent years, expanding from a high school only to a combined middle and high school model. That expansion, publicly reported through state charter documents, added earlier access to a STEM-focused dual enrollment program in which students can earn a substantial number of college credits from Delaware State University before graduating.
The academic picture on state assessments is mixed and, on the proficiency measures the state reports, genuinely weak. In the most recent year, math proficiency across the tested grades sat well below most of the school's peers in Kent County. English language arts proficiency was higher than math but still modest. Science results were suppressed, so they are not available to interpret. Social studies proficiency, measured only at eighth grade in the prior year, was also low. When the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades is placed against the county's districts, it lands in the bottom quartile. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school how it frames state test results alongside its college-credit mission, since the two measures can tell different stories about what students are learning.
The multi-year trend data adds some context. English language arts proficiency has bounced around over the years, at times landing near the mid-forties on the percentage scale and at other points dipping lower. The most recent reported year shows a decline from prior years. Math proficiency has been consistently low across every year on record, rarely reaching even the lower-middle band. This is a persistent pattern, not a one-year dip, and it is worth a direct conversation with school leadership about how the school supports students who arrive with gaps in foundational math.
What the data does not tell you is also relevant. Free or reduced-price lunch counts are missing, as are individualized education program rates and English learner figures, so there is no way to characterize the school's economic need or special population served from the provided data. The four-year graduation rate is not available in this dataset, and chronic absenteeism is not reported. The absence of these measures means a parent should ask the school directly for its graduation outcomes and attendance patterns, since those are central to understanding whether the dual enrollment pipeline is actually delivering students to college readiness.
Dover itself is a small capital city with a dense concentration of civic and cultural institutions. The Green, a colonial-era public square, anchors the historic district and is surrounded by the Old State House, Legislative Hall, the Delaware Supreme Court, and the Kent County Courthouse. Publicly reported sources note that the Delaware State Library, State Museum, and State Archives are all downtown and open to the public. The Sewell C. Biggs Museum of American Art holds collections spanning Colonial era to the present. The John Dickinson Plantation, just south of the city, preserves the childhood home of the Revolutionary-era statesman. Dover Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR races and has served as the venue for the Firefly Music Festival. The Dover Mall along US 13 is the area's only enclosed shopping center. The city sits on the St. Jones River in the Delaware River coastal plain.
Housing in the school's zip code is more affordable than the state benchmark. Typical home values run below the statewide level, and rents are similarly moderate. Mortgage rates nationally remain elevated, which affects affordability for families considering a move to the area. The local housing market has seen modest year-over-year appreciation, consistent with a steady rather than booming market.
This school is built for a specific kind of student and family: one drawn to the early college model, comfortable with a predominantly Black peer environment, and interested in the STEM-focused pathway that lets students accumulate Delaware State University credits. The state test results are a real soft spot, and they are not a one-year anomaly. Families considering this school should weigh the college-credit opportunity against the low proficiency numbers and ask directly what supports are in place, what the graduation rate looks like, and how the school tracks students who move from its classrooms into university coursework.
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