Dickerson Middle School, Marietta GA

Original Research by School Decision on Dickerson Middle School

Dickerson Middle School is a standard public middle school serving grades six through eight in Marietta, Georgia, enrolling just over one thousand students. The school sits in a part of the metro Atlanta area that remains predominantly white and Asian with strong household income, and it draws families from a neighborhood where housing values have been stable and rents have risen modestly.

On state assessments in math and English language arts, Dickerson's performance is notably strong across all three grades. In math, students show proficiency rates that climb from the mid-eighties in sixth grade to the low nineties in seventh, then remain near the low nineties in eighth grade. English language arts proficiency runs in the low eighties in sixth and seventh grades, dipping slightly in eighth. These results place the school in the top quartile among districts in Cobb County on a composite proficiency measure.

Science proficiency at the eighth-grade level sits at roughly three in five students, a substantially lower result than what students demonstrate in math and English. The drop appears sharp when compared to what looks like a prior year measurement, suggesting a possible change in assessment or scoring standards that a parent may want to explore directly with the school. Social studies proficiency in eighth grade sits around three quarters of students.

The school's enrollment is diverse in composition. White students make up roughly three fifths of the student body, Asian students roughly one quarter, and Hispanic and Black students each represent smaller shares, with a small population of multiracial students. A small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the relative economic stability of the neighborhoods Dickerson serves. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

Marietta itself is a mixed-character city, the Cobb County seat, with a historic downtown anchored by the civic square and a broader suburban context. The city has seen revitalization initiatives downtown and significant new housing development on its edges. Employment is anchored by aerospace and defense, healthcare, and the public sector. For families considering Dickerson, the school offers solid to strong proficiency in core academic subjects, particularly in mathematics, within a well-resourced suburban district setting. The science result warrants clarification, given the apparent shift year to year, before drawing conclusions about that program's strength.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 687%

School 87% · District 45% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 56 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 792%

School 92% · District 50% · ▲ 43 pts above district

▲ 58 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 890%

School 90% · District 55% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 51% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 787%

School 87% · District 51% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 48% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Science

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 34% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 49% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

This schoolCobb 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 6Lower-income54%Higher-income88%34 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income85%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income84%24 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income57%Higher-income86%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income54%Higher-income92%38 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income63%Higher-income92%28 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income67%Higher-income94%28 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income61%Higher-income93%32 pp gap