Macarthur Ms, Lawton OK - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Macarthur Ms

MacArthur MS is a public middle school in Lawton, Oklahoma, serving grades six through eight. Lawton is the regional hub of southwestern Oklahoma, with an economy long tied to the adjacent Fort Sill military reservation and major private employers such as Goodyear and two hospitals. The city is low-density and auto-oriented, with a downtown core housing county offices and a handful of civic museums. Two recent Lawton Public Schools bond issues, passed in 2021 and 2023, have funded school safety improvements, new buses, and district-wide technology upgrades.

The school enrolls a large student body for a middle school, with roughly equal numbers in each grade. The student population is racially and ethnically diverse: the largest group is white, followed by students who identify as two or more races, then Hispanic, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status were not available in the state reporting used here, so a complete picture of student support needs is not possible from this data.

State test results from the most recent year show low proficiency rates in all three subjects tested. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above is around one in five in sixth and seventh grades and well below that in eighth grade. In English language arts, proficiency rates are also roughly one in five across all three grades. In eighth-grade science, the rate is a little above one in five by a small margin. Because the state changed its cut scores for math and ELA in this testing cycle, these results may not be directly comparable to prior years. Overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places the school below the midpoint among districts in Comanche County, a cohort of twelve districts.

Those are the available academic metrics. Without additional program information, graduation rates (not applicable for a middle school), or chronic absenteeism data, it is hard to evaluate other dimensions of school quality. A parent considering MacArthur MS may want to ask about curriculum, support for students performing below grade level, enrichment offerings, and how the school uses the technology and safety bond investments. The housing market in the area is relatively affordable: typical home values and rents are well below state and national medians, which may factor into a family’s choice of residence and school.

In short, MacArthur MS is a large, diverse middle school in a military-connected city. Its state test results suggest that a sizable majority of students are not reaching proficiency benchmarks, a pattern that a parent may wish to explore further with the school directly. The recent bond funding points to district-level investments in infrastructure and equipment, but how those translate into classroom experience is not reflected in the available data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 16% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 722%

School 22% · District 15% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 8% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 4 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 14% · ▲ 6 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 15% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Science

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 19% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median

This schoolLAWTON, 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-income30%Higher-income48%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income34%Higher-income38%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income46%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income25%Higher-income43%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income22%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income12%Higher-income21%9 pp gap