The reported proficiency rate for Math is 33%.
Original Research by School Decision on Qulin Middle
Qulin Middle sits in a small, agriculture-oriented town in the flatlands of southeastern Butler County. The town itself has minimal retail, a limited pedestrian network, and a declining population. Highway 53 is the main corridor. There is no downtown district, and older students travel to Broseley for Twin Rivers High School. The school building, set within the town limits, serves grades four through eight as a regular public school in the Twin Rivers R-X district.
The student body is small and predominantly white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Enrollment by grade is uneven, with the largest cohort in seventh grade and the smallest in eighth grade. The school's grade span means that state testing data is reported for grades four through eight in math and for select grades in English language arts and science, though much of this data is suppressed, likely because of the small number of students in each tested group.
What is available from state testing gives a mixed picture. Among the results that were reported, fifth-grade math performance was above the midpoint of the county's districts. However, sixth-grade and eighth-grade math proficiency rates were lower. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how instruction and performance vary across grade levels. English language arts and science results for the tested grades were largely suppressed, so a clear picture of performance in those subjects is not available from this data.
The district overall, as publicly reported, has added robotics, gifted, and alternative education programs in recent years, expanding options beyond a traditional curriculum. This is a notable addition in a rural setting where such specialized programs are less common. The district's Annual Performance Report score has also shown a sustained upward trend, a metric some parents weigh when evaluating district quality.
When placed relative to the other districts in Butler County, Qulin Middle sits in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. This is a soft spot in the data, and a family comparing schools across the county should consider how that fits their priorities.
The town of Qulin itself offers limited commercial services and no public library or public transit. Community life centers on annual events like the Qulin Homecoming, weekly Lions Club dinners, and school events. Housing values in the area are low relative to the state, and the population trend has been downward. For a family considering this school, the peer environment is small and rural, and the academic pathway shows uneven performance with bright spots in fifth-grade math and a district that is working to add program options. The big-picture question is whether the school's particular mix of small size, rural setting, and developing program offerings matches what a family is looking for. The data on core academic performance in middle grades is incomplete, which is itself a signal that a parent should seek direct information from the school about classroom experience and academic outcomes across all subjects.
See more original research from School Decision →