Ruiz Elem School, Chicago IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ruiz Elem School

Ruiz Elementary serves students from pre-K through grade 8 in Chicago, located on the South Leavitt Street corridor on the city's Southwest Side. The school encloses a small enrollment and is an overwhelmingly Hispanic school community. The vast majority of families are Latino; the enrollment also includes small numbers of Black, white, Asian, and multiracial students.

Academic performance is substantially below proficiency benchmarks across the school. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), math proficiency is lowest in the early elementary grades, where only a small fraction of students meet or exceed state standards. In grades 3 through 6, math proficiency ranges from low single digits to under a fifth of students. Performance improves in the upper middle grades, with grades 7 and 8 at roughly a quarter to just under a third of students proficient. On the English language arts assessment, proficiency is similarly low in the primary and intermediate elementary grades, at roughly a tenth to a fifth of students. Performance climbs considerably as students advance into seventh and eighth grade, where approaching or just over half of students meet or exceed proficiency in ELA. Science results, available for grades 5 and 8, show about a third of students proficient in both years. Across all tested subjects, participation rates are strong; nearly all students took the assessments.

The proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places Ruiz in the bottom quartile among schools across Cook County. This position reflects the persistently low math and ELA results in the elementary and early middle grades, even as upper middle-grade performance improves.

The school is part of Chicago Public Schools District 299, one of the nation's largest districts. The district has embarked on a strategic shift toward neighborhood school strengthening, moving away from the choice-based model that has dominated for decades. CPS also replaced its numeric school rating system with holistic dashboards in late 2024, changing how parents evaluate schools. The district has rolled out Skyline, a comprehensive PreK-12 curriculum now available to all district schools at no cost, standardizing instructional materials that were previously chosen school by school.

The Chicago housing market in the school's area shows median home values in the mid-range relative to citywide benchmarks. Monthly rental costs are moderate to above moderate for the region. The neighborhood sits within a major, dense city with extensive public transit and strong walkability, though housing costs have been rising modestly. A parent considering Ruiz may want to look into the school's specific instructional supports and interventions for mathematics in the lower grades, where performance gaps are most pronounced. The improvement in ELA and the consistent participation rates in testing suggest school engagement, but the early-grade math results warrant direct conversation with school leadership about instructional approach and student support.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 35%

School 5% · District 38% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

Grade 418%

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

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 24% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 68%

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

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

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 27% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 23% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 36% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 39% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 22 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 628%

School 28% · District 45% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 46% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 48% · ▲ 5 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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