Dawes Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Dawes Elem School

Dawes Elementary School is a public elementary and middle school in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, serving about a thousand students from pre-K through eighth grade. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black student population and very small numbers of other groups. Detailed demographics on free and reduced lunch eligibility, special education, and English learner enrollment are not publicly available for this school.

The school's state assessment results show a pattern of weak proficiency across tested grades and subjects. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in math, proficiency rates range from the mid-teens in grades four through six to about a third in grades three and eight. In English language arts, the pattern is somewhat better: third-grade proficiency is near 38 percent, but fourth and fifth grades dip to around 32 to 47 percent, sixth and seventh grades climb toward 45 to 50 percent, and eighth grade lands near 35 percent. Science proficiency, tested only in grades five and eight, shows rates around 26 percent in grade five and 35 percent in grade eight. Participation in testing is nearly universal, which means these results reflect the school's actual student population and not testing gaps. When measured against other schools in Cook County that took the same assessments, Dawes falls in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency.

In Chicago's context, Dawes is a neighborhood school serving one of the city's South Side communities. The broader district, Chicago Public Schools, is in a significant moment: the district has phased out its old numeric school ratings and adopted new holistic accountability dashboards, so families now evaluate schools through different lenses. The district adopted a strategic plan in 2024 that emphasizes neighborhood schools over choice-based enrollment. A newly elected school board took office in 2024 and will become fully elected in 2026, giving parents direct say in governance.

State testing scores alone do not tell the whole story of a school's environment or support systems. Academic performance data was available; information on student discipline, course-by-course offerings, staffing levels, and daily attendance patterns was not provided. A parent would benefit from visiting the school, reviewing its current dashboards on the CPS website, and speaking directly with staff about curriculum, supports for struggling learners, and the daily peer environment. The school's proficiency results suggest many students are not yet meeting state benchmarks, which a prospective family should weigh carefully against the school's specific interventions, teaching quality, and community fit.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 38% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 29% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 24% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 23% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 721%

School 21% · District 27% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 23% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 36% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 39% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 43% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 45% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 46% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 48% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 29% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 31% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 8 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.