Derby Hills Elem, Derby KS - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Derby Hills Elem

Derby Hills Elementary is a public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Wichita suburb of Derby, Kansas. The school is part of Derby USD 260, a district that operates across a fast-growing city that has doubled in population over recent decades and is now one of the top-ten fastest-growing municipalities in the state. Derby is a car-dependent, largely residential community with extensive parkland, a recreation center, a public library, and a point-to-point bus service within city limits. Many residents work for Wichita-area aviation manufacturers such as Spirit AeroSystems, Textron Aviation, and Bombardier Learjet, as well as nearby McConnell Air Force Base. The local economy also includes manufacturing firms like BRG Precision Products and Mid Continent Controls.

Derby Hills is one of several elementary schools spread on separate campuses across the city. Its enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving these grades, with a student body that is predominantly white. Hispanic students make up a meaningful share of the population, and students who identify as two or more races are also present in notable numbers. The data available did not include counts of students with disabilities or English learners. Just under half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that points to a mix of income levels in the attendance zone.

On state assessments administered through the Kansas Assessment Program in the most recent school year, Derby Hills posted results that varied by grade and subject. In English language arts, third graders had the strongest showing, with well over half scoring at the proficient level or above. Fourth graders in the same subject were at a lower point—about a third reached proficiency—while fifth graders bounced back to a level closer to the third-grade mark. Math scores followed a similar but less pronounced pattern: third grade performed near the middle, fourth grade was the weakest of the three tested grades, and fifth grade was in a comparable range to fourth grade but slightly stronger. Science, tested only in fifth grade, landed around the midpoint, with roughly half of students meeting the proficient bar.

The school system has flagged that the state's cut scores for proficiency changed, which means these results cannot be reliably compared to prior years to see whether performance is improving or declining. With the available one-year snapshot, Derby Hills' overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint when compared to other districts in Sedgwick County. The comparison set is the county's fourteen districts, and the school lands on the lower side of that group.

Because Derby Hills only goes through fifth grade, there are no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism figures to report. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent changes or strategic priorities that would be relevant to a family choosing this school. A parent considering Derby Hills may want to ask the school directly about academic support in the grades where proficiency dipped, particularly fourth-grade math and ELA, and about how instruction has been adjusted following the cut-score changes. The school's setting in a growing, amenity-rich suburb with a strong employment base in aviation and manufacturing gives it a stable community context. The mix of student demographics and income levels is fairly typical for a suburban Kansas elementary school, and the building's moderate size suggests that individual attention is plausible, though the test results indicate there is room for academic growth in several grade levels.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 45% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 42% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 40%

even with state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 57% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 47% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 52% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 49% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

This schoolDerby, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income45%Higher-income69%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income18%Higher-income50%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income67%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income56%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income42%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income14%Higher-income58%43 pp gap