Hedges Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Hedges Elem School

Hedges Elementary serves grades pre-K through eighth, located on the South Side of Chicago in the Bridgeport area. The school has an enrollment of about five hundred students, predominantly Hispanic. The student body is very small in other racial or ethnic categories. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility data was not available, and neither were enrollment counts by special education and English learner status, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the overall composition of learning support and language services.

Academic performance measured by state testing shows a consistent pattern across grades and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency rises with grade level, from low rates in grades three through six to moderate performance by eighth grade, where roughly half the students reached proficiency. In mathematics, the story is much different. Proficiency in math remains very low across all tested grades, ranging from single-digit percentages in grades five, six, and eight to low double-digit rates in grades three, four, and seven. In science, which is tested only in grades five and eight, proficiency is similarly low. A parent considering this school should understand that math achievement here is substantially below state and county benchmarks. Across the county's school districts, Hedges ranks in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency. This is a factual characterization of the data, and a parent interested in placing a child in a stronger math environment would want to explore other schools in the district or have a detailed conversation with Hedges leadership about how math instruction is structured and what remediation or support exists for students performing below grade level.

The school uses the district-wide Skyline curriculum, adopted across Chicago Public Schools to standardize instruction in English language arts, math, science, social science, world languages, and arts. This curriculum arrived without school-level cost, marking a significant shift in how CPS schools access instructional materials.

Chicago itself continues to add residents and housing approvals after a period of decline. The housing market in the area is relatively affordable compared to citywide medians. The city has restored transit service on some lines and remains one of three cities worldwide with round-the-clock train service. The South Side neighborhoods where Hedges sits are part of Chicago's vast residential patchwork, less dense than downtown but embedded in walkable street grids and served by the CTA.

The district itself is undergoing structural change. A fully elected twenty-one-member school board is replacing the prior mayor-appointed model, with voters electing ten members in November 2024 and scheduled to elect all members in November 2026. This gives parents a direct voice in district policy. The district has also stepped back from its prior commitment to rapid charter and selective enrollment expansion, instead prioritizing neighborhood schools and neighborhood school investment. These policy shifts are worth understanding if you are choosing a Chicago Public School.

Chicago Public Schools has moved away from numeric school ratings and now uses holistic dashboards showing school experience and resource data alongside test results. That shift reflects the district's evolving definition of school quality, so the rating system a parent may have used in past years is no longer in place.

Hedges is a neighborhood school without a specialized or selective admissions pathway. It is a regular public school. Test results show substantial academic challenge, especially in math. For a family prioritizing strong math instruction or well-above-grade-level achievement, this data suggests looking further. For a family committed to neighborhood schooling and wanting to understand what school-based supports can help with academic progress, a direct conversation with school leadership about instructional approach, intervention programs, and student support structures would be essential before enrollment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 38% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 29% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 24% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 23% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 27% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 23% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 36% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 39% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 43% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 45% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 46% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 29% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 31% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 2 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.