The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Math. The lowest is 19% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln Es
A reader who pulls up Lincoln Es in Norman, Oklahoma, will find an elementary school that serves prekindergarten through fifth grade and sits within the Norman Public Schools system. The district itself has been through noticeable change: voters approved a bond in recent years that funded facility upgrades, safety improvements, and technology, while the district also closed two elementary schools after the 2022-23 school year, citing declining enrollment and budget pressure. Lincoln is not among those closed schools, but that restructuring provides context for a family considering where to enroll.
Lincoln's enrollment is on the smaller side for its grade band. The student body reflects a mix of backgrounds. White students make up the largest share, followed by a substantial proportion of students who identify as two or more races. Hispanic students, Black students, and American Indian or Alaska Native students each account for a smaller portion of the school's population, along with very small shares of Asian students and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students. Free or reduced-price lunch data was not available, so it is not possible to say what share of families qualify for income-based meal assistance.
State testing data is available for the most recent school year, though there are gaps that a parent should be aware of. Oklahoma changed its cut scores for math and English language arts in this testing cycle, which means the results cannot be directly compared to prior years, and the trend direction is not clear. For math, the share of students scoring proficient or above declined from third grade to fifth grade, with the highest rate in third grade and the lowest in fifth grade. In English language arts, the results for third and fourth grades were suppressed, meaning the data was not reported, likely due to small group sizes or privacy rules. For fifth grade, the proficiency rate in English language arts was lower than what the school posted in math for that same grade. In fifth-grade science, the school's proficiency rate was lower still. When compared to other schools across Cleveland County, Lincoln's overall proficiency index placed it among the top schools in the county, meaning that its combined performance across tested subjects and grades, where data was available, was stronger than most nearby schools.
Because Lincoln serves only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report and no high school course access to evaluate. Chronic absenteeism data was not provided. Those gaps are a simple function of the school's grade band.
The housing context in the area shows home values near the middle of the range nationally and rents that are modest relative to incomes. The national 30-year mortgage rate and the unemployment rate are both at levels typical for the current period. Norman itself is a mid-sized city anchored by the University of Oklahoma and a cluster of federal weather research facilities. The city has a suburban feel overall, with a historic downtown and a university campus that functions as a pedestrian hub, while most of the city is car-oriented. Interstate 35 connects Norman to Oklahoma City roughly twenty miles north. The city has grown steadily over recent decades, with a population profile that includes a moderate share of families with children.
Lincoln Elementary offers a program for prekindergarten through fifth grade in a Norman neighborhood. A family living in its attendance zone should be aware that the district has recent experience with school closures, so feeder patterns are worth confirming directly with the district. Academically, the school's testing results are uneven across grades and subjects; fifth grade appears to be the softest year, and a parent may want to ask the school how it supports students as they move through the upper elementary grades. The school's overall standing relative to other elementary schools in the county is on the stronger side, which is a positive signal, though the suppressed English language arts scores for the lower grades leave an incomplete picture. This is a small neighborhood school in a district that is investing in facilities but also tightening its footprint, and it will be most appealing to a family looking for a school that stays within its grade band and is open about the district's recent changes.
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