The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Science. The lowest is 27% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Malden Grade School
Malden Grade School is a very small public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in the village of Malden, a rural community in Bureau County. The school enrolls a small population across its nine grade bands, with most students drawn from the immediate area. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and very limited racial diversity overall. Specific information about free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, English learner enrollment, and special education services was not available.
The school's academic performance, measured by Illinois state assessments, shows wide variation by grade and subject. In third-grade math, students show modest proficiency, while eighth-grade math performance is notably lower. English language arts proficiency is quite low across the grades where data appear: third and eighth grade both show performance below one-third of students meeting state standards. Science testing data for fifth grade was not reported, but eighth-grade science performance is higher than the school's performance in math and ELA at that same grade. The school achieved full participation on all reported assessments, indicating that test administration proceeded without exclusions.
Positioned against other districts in Bureau County, Malden Grade School's overall proficiency index sits above the median for the comparison group. This result reflects the school's stronger showing in certain grades and subjects, particularly third-grade math and eighth-grade science, even though performance in many other areas remains below proficiency for a majority of students. The comparison should be read with care: the school is small, test sample sizes are tiny, and single-grade swings can shift the aggregate measure. A parent may want to look further into the school's approach to the grades and subjects where proficiency is notably low.
Malden Grade School sits at the heart of a village experiencing modest population decline. The place itself is rural, consisting of a historic small main street surrounded by agricultural land. The school building is located within the village proper rather than on a separate campus. The village has almost no commercial base and very limited street life. Most working families commute to jobs in the wider Bureau County or Ottawa micropolitan region. High school students from Malden do not attend school in the village; they move on to Princeton High School in a neighboring community. The school is the largest institutional employer in the village and serves as a civic anchor for a tightly knit, aging community.
No recent referendums, tax changes, or major curriculum shifts for Malden CCSD 84 were documented in available sources, and the district brief found no lasting parent-relevant changes over the recent past. The district office data and general directory information are the only publicly available records for this single-school district.
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