Meade Elem, Meade KS - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Meade Elem

Meade Elem is a PK through 8 school in the small rural community of Meade, Kansas, the seat of Meade County. The town of Meade sits in an area anchored by ranching and farming, with educational services the largest employment sector locally, followed by agriculture and health care. As is common in southwest Kansas, the drive to larger population centers is considerable, so for families living in and around Meade, this school is the core of their children’s education through middle school before students head to high school elsewhere in the district.

The student body is small, serving just under three hundred children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white, with a modest share of Hispanic students and a very small number of students identifying as two or more races or Black. More than four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a substantial portion of families in the community are navigating lower household incomes. Data on the share of students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the current school reporting.

On state assessments, the picture varies notably by grade and subject. In third grade, the share of students meeting the state’s proficiency standard in English language arts was a clear strength, with roughly three-quarters of students reaching that level. Across the upper elementary grades in ELA, the results were more mixed, falling well below that early peak in the fifth and sixth grade years. The seventh and eighth grade ELA results landed in a similar mid-range. In math, third grade saw a modest majority of students proficient, but across the rest of the tested grades, the school’s performance was soft, with several grades showing less than a third of students scoring at the proficient level. In science, the figures for fifth and eighth graders were similarly on the lower side. Given that Kansas changed its cut scores for these assessments, direct comparisons to prior years are not possible from this data alone. Compared to the two other school districts in Meade County, this school’s overall proficiency index placed above the midpoint in that very small field, though the margin is narrow.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, nor chronic absenteeism data. Information on course access, staffing ratios, and discipline was also absent from the available data.

Housing in the Meade area is notably affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. The typical home value has seen a slight dip over the past year, and the area has experienced mild population decline since the 2020 census. This is a quiet, car-dependent rural community with a traditional downtown core, civic anchors like the county historical museum and a state park a short drive away, but no public transit system. No major new housing or commercial developments were surfaced in the research.

For a parent or resident, Meade Elem is the sole elementary and middle school in a small, tight-knit district. It offers a straightforward academic pathway through eighth grade. The third grade reading results are a bright spot, but the school’s math and upper-grade ELA performance are areas where families may want to ask about current instructional supports and how the school is working to address those softer numbers. The lack of data on special education and English learner services means that families with children who may need those supports would want to speak directly with the school about what is available. The setting is a low-cost, slow-decline rural community where the school is a central institution.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 4 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 48%

even with state median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 10 pts below state median

This schoolMeade, 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 4Lower-income40%Higher-income55%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income48%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income30%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income46%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income6%Higher-income52%47 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income20%18 pp gap