The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in Science. The lowest is 11% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Paden Es
Paden Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through eighth grade in a single building shared with the high school, located in the small rural town of Paden in western Okfuskee County. The town itself sits on US Highway 62 about a short drive west of the county seat, Okemah, and has experienced a modest population decline over the past two decades. Once a farming service center with cotton gins and a railroad, Paden transitioned to a bedroom community after rail service ended, and the surrounding area now supports cattle ranching. The school district is classified as rural and remote, and the combined campus places the elementary and high school in a compact footprint near the town center.
Enrollment at Paden ES is small, with roughly a hundred and a half students spread across prekindergarten through eighth grade. The student body is majority white, with a substantial American Indian or Alaska Native population and a smaller share of students who are two or more races. Hispanic, Black, and Asian students each represent a modest portion of the enrollment. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was not available, and information on students with disabilities and English learners was also missing. A parent may want to ask the school about the level of support available for these groups.
State testing results for the most recent year show that proficiency rates in math and English language arts were low across the grades where data was reported. In third-grade math and fourth-grade math, for example, a small share of students scored at the proficient level or above, and sixth-grade math was similar. Several grade levels in both math and ELA had rates that were suppressed in the data, meaning the figures were not reported, possibly because the number of students was too small to release or because other privacy rules applied. In science, fifth-grade and eighth-grade proficiency rates were somewhat higher than in math and ELA, though still representing a minority of students. When compared with other districts in Okfuskee County on an overall proficiency index, Paden ES placed above the midpoint of the small cohort of five districts. The data also indicated that Oklahoma changed cut scores for math and ELA assessments in this period, which means this year's results cannot be directly compared with prior years.
Because Paden ES serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The high school shares the same campus but is a separate school. The district brief found no recent major changes such as bond elections, curriculum shifts, or property tax changes that would affect parents.
Housing in the area is relatively affordable. Home values in the town's zip code were below the state average and well below the national average, though they had risen noticeably over the prior year. The typical mortgage payment on a median-priced home would be modest relative to national household income figures. Rents were rising nationally during this period, but no local rent data was available.
For a family considering Paden ES, the picture is one of a very small, rural school with a limited student body and testing results that suggest most students are not meeting state proficiency benchmarks. The school's position among Okfuskee County districts is above the middle of a small field, but the absolute proficiency rates are low enough that a parent would want to understand how the school supports students who are behind. The town offers low housing costs and a quiet, slow-changing environment, but civic amenities such as a public library or parks were not identified in publicly available sources. The combined elementary and high school campus on a single site means a student moving from elementary into high school would already be familiar with the building and staff.
See more original research from School Decision →