Cassell Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Cassell Elem School

Cassell Elem School serves grades kindergarten through eighth in a residential neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. The school enrolls a modest population spread across nine grade levels, with the enrollment relatively balanced by grade, trending slightly toward the middle grades.

The student body is predominantly white, with meaningful Hispanic representation and smaller numbers of Black students and other racial and ethnic groups. Free-and-reduced-price-lunch data was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the socioeconomic composition of the community and any supports available for families with economic need.

On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, Cassell shows a varied academic profile across grade levels and subjects. In English language arts, the school performs more consistently: third grade through fifth grade sit solidly above the midpoint, with eighth grade notably strong. Math results are less uniform. Third and fourth grades show solid proficiency; fifth grade holds steady; but sixth and seventh grades dip, and eighth grade drops further. This pattern suggests the school may face particular challenges in supporting students through the transition to middle school mathematics or in maintaining momentum in the upper grades. Science results are available only for grades five and eight, showing moderate to solid performance at each level. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places Cassell in the top quartile relative to districts in Cook County, a meaningful strength.

All students participated in state testing across the subjects reported, indicating consistent access to assessment.

Cassell is located in a neighborhood within the Chicago Public Schools system, the nation's third-largest school district. The broader CPS context includes recent governance changes: a newly elected school board began taking office in late 2024, with the first fully elected 21-member Board of Education set to take office after elections scheduled for late 2026. The district has also adopted a five-year strategic plan emphasizing neighborhood schools and has replaced its numeric school ratings with new accountability dashboards that launched in late 2024. These shifts signal a district moving to strengthen local school options and change how school quality is communicated to families.

In terms of the community, Chicago is a large, densely populated city with diverse neighborhoods, extensive public transit, and significant cultural assets. The area surrounding Cassell's South Side location has housing values and rental costs somewhat below the city average. The local housing market shows mixed activity: while residential supply is substantial, demand metrics indicate a moderately cool market compared to recent years. Mortgage rates remain elevated, and the region's unemployment rate sits near historical norms.

A parent considering Cassell should understand it as a neighborhood elementary school with solid overall proficiency but with some variability by grade level, particularly a downturn in math performance at grades six through eight. The school's performance in English language arts suggests stronger coherence in that domain. The lack of specific data on family economics, staffing depth, special education and English learner support, discipline practices, course offerings at the middle grades, and school culture means a parent will want to visit, speak with current families, and ask the school directly about these aspects. The school's position within a restructuring district also means that governance and policy priorities may shift as the elected board takes fuller control, something worth monitoring for families making a long-term commitment to the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 38% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 29% · ▲ 44 pts above district

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

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 24% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 23% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 27% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 23% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 36% · ▲ 32 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 39% · ▲ 32 pts above district

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

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 43% · ▲ 34 pts above district

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

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 45% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 46% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 880%

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

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Science

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 29% · ▲ 29 pts above district

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

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 31% · ▲ 40 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 45 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.