Douglass Elem, Kansas City KS - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Douglass Elem

Douglass Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Kansas City, Kansas, as part of the Kansas City school district. It is a neighborhood elementary school with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a much smaller share of Black students and a small number of white, Asian, and multiracial students. Nearly all students come from households facing economic disadvantage, as measured by eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. The school does not report data on students receiving special education services or those classified as English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the supports available in those areas.

The most notable fact about Douglass is its academic performance on the Kansas Assessment Program. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above is very low across all tested grades. The same is true for English language arts, where proficiency rates are also low across grades three through five. In fifth-grade science, the proficiency rate is low as well. The proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, places Douglass in the bottom quarter when compared with other districts in Wyandotte County. Kansas changed its test cut scores in the recent testing cycle, which makes direct year-over-year comparisons unreliable, but the current results are a clear signal for any family considering the school. A parent would want to understand what academic interventions and supports the school has in place.

Because Douglass is an elementary school that does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school is not a charter, and no information was available on whether it is a magnet school or a Title I school, though the high share of students from low-income households strongly suggests it receives federal Title I funding. No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course access was available in the materials reviewed.

The school sits within Kansas City, Kansas, a mid-sized city that is part of the larger Kansas City metropolitan area. The community has a working-class heritage and a mix of residential neighborhoods, industrial zones, and commercial corridors. The broader school district recently passed the largest bond referendum in its history, which is funding facility improvements, safety upgrades, and technology across schools. That investment may eventually affect the physical conditions and resources at Douglass, but specific plans for this building were not detailed in the available information.

Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Home values and rents are noticeably lower than the Kansas median, and the cost of a mortgage is less than what renters typically pay, which could be a practical consideration for families looking to live within the school's attendance zone. The national economic context shows modest mortgage rates and stable unemployment at the time of this review.

For a family, the picture is straightforward. Douglass is a high-poverty elementary school in an urban district with very low state test scores. Its student body is diverse, with a large Hispanic majority. The district has committed significant new funding to its facilities, which may bring improvements over time. A parent considering this school would want to understand the specific academic support and enrichment programs the school offers and how the school is working to raise achievement levels.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 33%

School 3% · District 16% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 19% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 22% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 25% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 24% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 29% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 19% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

This schoolKansas City, 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-income9%Higher-income8%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income2%Higher-income8%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income20%Higher-income0%20 pp gap