John J Duggan Academy, Springfield MA

Original Research by School Decision on John J Duggan Academy

John J Duggan Academy serves grades six through twelve as a regular public school in the Springfield district, housed in a building on Wilbraham Road in the city's Pine Point neighborhood. It is a large school by enrollment for its grade band, and the student body is majority Hispanic, with a substantial Black population and a smaller share of White, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, receiving special education services, or classified as English learners was not available; a parent may want to ask the school directly about student support services and the proportion of the population it serves.

Springfield itself is the urban center of western Massachusetts, a dense, post-industrial city with a strong concentration of major employers, cultural institutions, and higher education campuses. The housing market in the broader Hampden County area shows a median listing price well below the state benchmark, and homes tend to stay on the market for a short time. This combination of affordability and high demand relative to supply is typical for a mid-sized county market with a tight inventory. The city has seen substantial redevelopment in recent years, including a large casino and a transit hub redo, though the school sits in a residential stretch of the city a few miles from downtown.

On state assessments, Duggan's proficiency rates in English language arts, math, science, and social studies all fall well below the statewide average for tested grades in regular public schools. On the NextGen MCAS, about a quarter of all tested students in grades six through eight met the proficient level in English language arts across the most recent testing year, with math proficiency slightly lower. Science proficiency among those tested was in the low double digits, and eighth-grade social studies proficiency was similar. The proficiency index that combines performance across tested subjects places Duggan in the bottom quartile relative to the other districts in Hampden County. The data here is clear: most students are not reaching the state's proficient benchmark in any subject.

Looking at a longer view, math and English proficiency rates have fluctuated within a relatively tight range over the past several years, with math sliding to a low point during the pandemic-impacted school year and then recovering part of that ground. The most recent year in English shows a slight uptick from a few years prior. The trend does not show a sustained climb in either direction. A parent examining these results should understand that this school serves a student population that, by these measures, is not yet reaching grade-level academic standards at the same rate as most schools in the state, and that the school's performance has been stable at this lower level rather than improving.

Because Duggan covers middle and high school grades, state testing data is available for the full span the school serves. No graduation rate or chronic absenteeism figure was reported in the available data, so a reader cannot assess those outcomes here.

The school runs within the Springfield public school district. No recent district-level changes or strategic initiatives were found in publicly reported material, so there is no information on whether the district has introduced new programming, curricula, or reforms that would affect Duggan in the near term.

For a family considering John J Duggan Academy, the relevant picture is of a large urban school serving a majority low-income and minority student body where academic proficiency on state tests has been persistently well below state averages for years. The school is in a district with limited publicly reported recent reform activity. A parent who is looking for a school with a track record of strong test outcomes or steady academic improvement is unlikely to find it here. A parent who wants to understand the specific supports for students who are behind, the elective and career pathway offerings at the high school level, or the school's climate would need to go beyond this data to the school itself.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

80-89%Cohort of 53 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

392 schools plotted. 8 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grades 3-821%

School 21% · District 17% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grades 3-829%

School 29% · District 22% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grades 3-810%

School 10% · District 21% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 13% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolSpringfield, 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 6Lower-income24%Higher-income36%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income38%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income43%17 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income27%Higher-income39%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income18%Higher-income39%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income32%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income14%Higher-income33%19 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income17%Higher-income34%17 pp gap