The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Bearden Public School
Bearden Public School is a public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Okemah, Oklahoma, as part of the Bearden district. It is a small school by any measure, which shapes nearly every aspect of the experience a family would encounter here.
Okemah is a small rural county-seat town that has seen a gradual population decline over recent decades. Its economy rests on cattle ranching, a few small manufacturers, and tribal enterprises including a Creek Nation casino and hospital. The downtown has a traditional main street with a few cafes and a coffee shop, and the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival brings seasonal activity. Housing in the area is well below national price levels, giving the town a relatively low cost of living. No major new residential development or population growth was identified in available sources.
On the Oklahoma state assessments, the results for Bearden Public School are low in the grades where they were reportable. In reading, roughly one in four fifth graders met the proficient bar. In math, only a small fraction of fifth graders and eighth graders did so. Results for other grades were suppressed because the number of test-takers was too small to report, a pattern that would be expected at a school this size. The school’s overall proficiency index, which combines results across tested subjects and grades, falls below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Okfuskee County. Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no four-year graduation rate. The school also does not offer high school programs such as advanced courses or career pathways.
The student body is small and ethnically composed mostly of students who are American Indian or Alaska Native and White, with a smaller number of students who identify with two or more races. Only a handful of students are Black or Hispanic. Information on economic disadvantage, special education, and English-learner status was not available in the data, nor were discipline or attendance figures. No data on course offerings or staffing were provided.
For a parent or resident, this is a very small rural elementary and middle school where academic proficiency numbers are low. The suppressed test results mean that in some grades, the experience of individual students cannot be publicly compared at all. The district has not had any publicly reported major changes, bond measures, or curriculum shifts in recent years that would alter the picture. A family considering Bearden should plan to visit the school directly and ask how teachers and administrators address academic support and student needs in a setting where each classroom is small and resources are likely limited.
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