Ava Middle, Ava MO - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ava Middle

Ava Middle sits in a small rural Ozarks town, the county seat of Douglas County, with a traditional courthouse square and a low-density, agricultural character. The school serves grades five through eight and is part of the Ava R-I district, which also operates an elementary school and a high school. The physical location of the school relative to downtown Ava is not specified in available records, so it is unclear whether it is near the square or on a separate campus.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need in the community. Enrollment numbers are modest for a middle school serving four grade levels. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available, a gap a parent may want to explore directly with the school. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet.

On state assessments, proficiency rates vary by grade and subject, and overall the school sits in the bottom quartile relative to the other districts in Douglas County. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranges from roughly a quarter of fifth graders to less than half of sixth and eighth graders; seventh-grade math proficiency is around a third. In English language arts, performance is more uneven: fifth and sixth graders show proficiency around two-fifths of students, while seventh graders drop to just over a quarter proficient. Eighth graders, however, reach half proficient in ELA, the strongest ELA result. In science, about a third of fifth graders and two-fifths of eighth graders scored proficient. Across all subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index is well below the county median, a consistent pattern a family should weigh.

No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing were available, so those dimensions cannot be characterized. The district brief did not turn up any recent major changes or initiatives publicly reported. The town of Ava itself has experienced modest population growth in recent years and remains a quiet, rural community with limited commercial activity, a county courthouse, a public library, and a park. The median household income and per capita income in Ava are below national benchmarks, which aligns with the elevated share of students receiving meal assistance at the school.

For a family considering Ava Middle, the picture is that of a small-town Ozarks school with a high-need student population and academic results that are low relative to county peers. The school may be a fit for families who prioritize a rural setting and small scale over top-tier test scores, but the weaker proficiency rates across most subjects suggest a parent may want to ask the school about academic interventions, support structures, and any recent efforts to lift achievement. The absence of data on special education, English learner services, and discipline leaves open questions that only a direct conversation with the school can answer.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 19 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 7 pts above state median

This schoolAVA R-I, 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-income36%Higher-income45%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income31%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income55%16 pp gap