The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Malta Elementary School
Malta Elementary is a small school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Malta, a compact farming village in DeKalb County. The school enrolls a diverse, tight-knit student body in roughly equal numbers across its grade levels, with a racial and ethnic mix of predominantly white and Black students, plus smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. The school operates under DeKalb CUSD 428, which serves the broader county and has recently signaled significant changes to its grade structures and facility use.
The academic picture at Malta Elementary is straightforward: proficiency rates across reading and math are low. In third grade, reading and math proficiency each sit in the low-to-mid range; by fourth grade, both drop sharply, and by fifth grade, math proficiency falls to single digits while reading stays in the low range. Science proficiency in fifth grade is also low. State assessment data shows full participation, which means the results reflect actual student performance rather than gaps in testing. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among DeKalb County districts, which is a meaningful gap. Test results do show that the assessment itself changed its performance standards this year, so direct year-over-year comparison is not available; a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether prior-year trends looked similar or whether the shift in standards affected the school differently.
Malta Elementary sits within a village characterized by a stable, agricultural economy with limited commercial activity. The setting is genuinely small: homes are mostly owner-occupied, grid-like streets near the center have sidewalks, and the footprint supports quiet residential walks rather than urban amenities. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to state and national benchmarks and have grown modestly. Population has been roughly flat or slightly declining since 2020, though new single-family subdivisions marketed as affordable alternatives to nearby DeKalb have begun appearing on the outskirts. The village itself is anchored by a few civic facilities, a public library, and proximity to Kishwaukee College, but offers no concentrated downtown. Kishwaukee College is the major institutional employer in the area; beyond that, the economy is built on agriculture and small local businesses.
At the district level, two near-term factors affect families in Malta Elementary. The district held a countywide sales tax referendum in November 2024 that was intended to lower property-tax burden, but it failed at the ballot and the board declined to place it back for a spring vote, meaning tax relief parents may have anticipated did not materialize. The district also approved a 2025 property-tax levy that is expected to raise the typical homeowner's school tax bill by a modest amount when bills arrive in 2026, driven by health insurance costs and loss of state transportation funding. At the same time, the district is executing a multipronged "Vision For28" plan that reconfigures grade structures and pedagogy across buildings, including moving fifth grade into a two-teacher self-contained model at certain schools and building new capacity at other elementaries. For Malta Elementary specifically, the direct impact of these changes is not yet clear from available sources, so a parent may want to ask the school how its instructional model or class organization will change.
Malta Elementary offers a straightforward early-elementary setting in a small, family-oriented community. The academic data indicates weak performance on state assessments, which is a clear concern for families prioritizing academic gains in those grades. The school's environment is small and residential, and enrollment appears stable. Families choosing Malta Elementary should factor in both the test results and the district's current financial and instructional reorganization, and may want to have a detailed conversation with school leadership about teaching approaches, student support, and what changes are ahead.
See more original research from School Decision →