Holden Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Holden Elem School

Holden Elementary serves grades pre-K through 8 in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, a diverse residential area on the city's Near West Side. The school enrolls a moderate-sized cohort of about students across its grade span, with the heaviest concentration in eighth grade.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with substantial Asian and white enrollment, and smaller populations of Black students. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch counts or special education rates in available data, so a parent seeking clarity on those distributions would want to ask the school directly.

Academic performance shows uneven proficiency across grades and subjects. Third graders show the strongest math results in the school, while fourth grade dips notably lower. By fifth grade, math proficiency drops sharply and remains subdued through sixth and seventh grades before rebounding in eighth. English language arts follows a similar arc, with third grade strong, decline through the middle grades, and recovery by eighth. Science proficiency is available only for fifth and eighth grades; fifth-grade performance is relatively low, while eighth-grade science shows improvement. Overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint when compared to other schools across Cook County districts, a signal that results are weaker than the typical school in the county.

The pattern suggests that students struggle most acutely in the middle elementary and early middle grades, particularly in math. Parents may want to ask the school what targeted supports exist for grades four through six, and whether the school has identified the roots of that dip.

Holden is a regular public school, part of Chicago Public Schools District 299. The district is undergoing significant shifts: a newly elected school board is replacing the mayor-appointed model, a five-year strategic plan now emphasizes neighborhood schools over school choice, and the district has replaced numeric school ratings with new holistic dashboards launched in late 2024. The district is also rolling out Skyline, its first comprehensive PreK-12 curriculum, which Holden would have access to at no school-level cost.

Housing in the Pilsen area and nearby Chicago neighborhoods reflects broader city trends. Home values in the school's zip code have held relatively stable with modest appreciation. Rental costs have climbed notably year-over-year. The local housing market shows cooling demand relative to supply, with median days on market rising slightly and new listings down compared to the prior year, indicating a buyer's or renter's market.

Chicago itself is a large, dense city with highly walkable neighborhoods, robust public transit via the CTA 'L' and bus system, and a well-established public park and library infrastructure. The city has resumed population growth after nearly a decade of decline and is approving housing at elevated rates. Pilsen specifically is a neighborhood with a long cultural identity, dense street life, and proximity to downtown via transit.

State assessment data was provided for the most recent year only, so multi-year trend data was not available. Graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, and other school-level outcome metrics were not reported in available sources.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 38% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 29% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 23% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 27% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 23% · ▲ 40 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 36% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 39% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 43% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 45% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 46% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 48% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 29% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 31% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 20 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.