Burley Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Burley Elem School

Burley Elem sits in the Lakeview neighborhood on Chicago's North Shore, a mixed-income residential area with strong walkability and access to the lakefront. The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade and sits within Chicago Public Schools District 299, a district now in the midst of major governance and strategic shifts.

The school enrolls students across a broad grade span. The student body is majority white, with meaningful Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial representation; enrollment data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility and students receiving special education or English language services was not available. The school is small to mid-sized for its grades.

In reading and language arts, Burley's performance is strong. Proficiency rates climb from solid in grades three and four into the mid-range in grades five and six, then rise sharply in grades seven and eight, where nearly all students tested met the proficiency threshold. The pattern suggests the school is successfully preparing older students for reading comprehension and composition.

Mathematics tells a different story. The school shows solid proficiency in grades three and four, then a notable decline beginning in grade five that extends through grade eight. By eighth grade, fewer than half of students tested met proficiency in math. This widening gap between reading and math performance, particularly as students move into the middle grades, is a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school. Understanding what teaching approaches are in place, how math instruction changes at each grade level, and what support exists for students who fall behind would be important questions.

Science proficiency data was tested only in grades five and eight. Grade five showed moderate results while grade eight showed strong performance, suggesting students may be building knowledge over time despite the earlier mixed outcomes in that grade.

Overall, across tested subjects and grades, Burley's proficiency index places it in the top quartile among schools across Cook County districts. This reflects the strength in ELA and eighth-grade science offsetting the math challenge.

The Chicago housing market in Burley's zip code reflects the neighborhood's appeal: median home values have appreciated modestly over the past year, and rents have similarly climbed. The neighborhood sits on a strong housing market with solid walkability and transit access, positioning it as a stable, family-oriented area.

Chicago Public Schools is currently undergoing significant change. The district recently transitioned from a mayor-appointed board to a hybrid elected-appointed board, with a fully elected board coming in 2027. The district adopted a strategic plan in 2024 ("Together We Rise") that shifts emphasis toward strengthening neighborhood schools rather than the school-choice model that has dominated CPS for decades. The district also rolled out a district-wide PreK-12 curriculum called Skyline in 2022 across all major subjects, standardizing instructional materials. These shifts affect how resources flow and signal a district commitment to making neighborhood schools the default choice rather than an alternative to selective or choice schools.

Burley appears to serve families who have opted into or are assigned to a neighborhood school that is academically solid in literacy but shows room for growth in math at the upper grade levels. The school functions within a district that is intentionally supporting neighborhood school improvement, which may offer longer-term stability and support, though the strong immediate math challenge in grades five and eight warrants conversation with school staff about instructional strategy and student support before enrollment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 38% · ▲ 49 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 481%

School 81% · District 29% · ▲ 52 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 24% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 23% · ▲ 48 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 27% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 23% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 36% · ▲ 55 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 39% · ▲ 39 pts above district

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

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 43% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 688%

School 88% · District 45% · ▲ 43 pts above district

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

Grade 795%

School 95% · District 46% · ▲ 49 pts above district

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

Grade 898%

School 98% · District 48% · ▲ 50 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 29% · ▲ 40 pts above district

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

Grade 886%

School 86% · District 31% · ▲ 54 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 59 pts above county median

This schoolChicago Public Schools Dist 299, 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 7Lower-income18%Higher-income85%66 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income9%Higher-income72%63 pp gap