The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Carbondale Middle School
Carbondale Middle School serves grades six through eight in Carbondale, a college town anchored by Southern Illinois University in southern Illinois. The school sits within Carbondale ESD 95, a small district that has reorganized into grade-band buildings; each child now moves through separate elementary buildings before arriving at the middle school, rather than staying at one neighborhood school through elementary years. This structural pattern is a key feature parents in the area navigate when choosing where to live.
The school enrolls roughly mid-sized numbers of students across its three grades, with the student body about half Black, roughly a quarter white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, two-or-more-races, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available.
State test results for the spring of 2025 show a weak academic profile. In mathematics, proficiency is low across all three grades, with the highest rate appearing in grade six and declining through grades seven and eight. In English language arts, performance is measurably stronger than math but still reflects less than one-third proficiency in grades six and seven and slightly lower in grade eight. In eighth-grade science, about one-quarter of students met proficiency. Participation rates across all tested subjects exceed ninety percent, indicating that results reflect the full student body rather than a subset. When compared against other districts in Jackson County, the school's overall proficiency index falls into the bottom quartile. Parents may want to examine the school's approaches to math instruction and the factors contributing to the decline in math proficiency as students advance through the middle years.
The broader housing and economic context matters for families considering the area. Carbondale's real estate market is among the most affordable in Illinois, with home prices roughly one-third of the national median and monthly rents moderately priced. Housing prices have risen modestly year over year, and the market functions as a buyer's advantage. The city's economy is led by Southern Illinois University and regional healthcare, with retail, construction, and government also significant employers. Downtown Carbondale, centered on a historic town square with locally owned retail and restaurants, is walkable; the broader city is car-dependent. A newly opened multimodal transit station now brings Amtrak service to downtown, which may gradually shape the area's connectivity.
State assessment proficiency-rate data constitutes the core available measure of student learning. District-level graduation rates and chronic absenteeism figures were not available. Program offerings, staffing ratios, discipline patterns, and attendance rates were not provided in the available data, so a parent inquiring about those specifics should contact the school directly.
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