R. P. Dawkins Middle, Moore SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on R. P. Dawkins Middle

R. P. Dawkins Middle sits in Moore, an unincorporated community in Spartanburg County roughly a short drive south of Spartanburg along a U.S. highway. Moore functions as a residential suburb, with residents commuting to manufacturing, healthcare, and education jobs in the broader Upstate region. The community has a low population density and retains agricultural roots; Niven’s Apple Farm is a local fixture. There is no dense downtown — schools are spread across separate sites — and the built environment is car-oriented, centered on highway corridors. Housing values here run above the state average.

Dawkins Middle is a regular public school serving grades six through eight. It belongs to Spartanburg 06, a district for which no major recent changes such as bond measures or curriculum shifts were publicly reported in a search, so a parent may want to check with the district office for any upcoming developments.

The school’s enrollment is substantial for a middle school, split fairly evenly across the three grades. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, signaling a community with significant economic need. The student body is diverse: Black students make up the largest group, followed by White students, Hispanic students, multiracial students, and Asian students, with very small numbers of Native American and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students.

On the 2024-25 SC Ready state assessments, reading and language arts are the school’s clear academic strength. Across all three tested grades, a majority of students met the state’s proficiency benchmark. This places ELA performance in a solid range, with more than half of students scoring at proficient or above in each grade.

Math results are notably lower. In sixth grade, fewer than half of students scored proficient. That share dropped in seventh grade and again in eighth, where roughly three in ten students reached proficiency. This downward trend across middle school grades is a pattern a parent would want to discuss with the school to understand what academic support and math instruction look like, especially as students near high school.

Science results are available only for sixth grade, where fewer than half of students scored proficient. Social studies data is from the 2018-19 school year, before a change in assessments, and showed roughly two-thirds of seventh graders proficient at that time. Because of assessment changes in recent years, it is not possible to directly compare older social studies results with current testing.

When measured against other middle schools in Spartanburg County, Dawkins’ overall proficiency across tested subjects falls in the bottom quartile. The middle of the pack for county middle schools sits noticeably higher. This comparison puts the school’s overall academic profile in context: the ELA performance is competitive, but math and science pull the combined measure down.

The school is part of a district that runs from Moore into nearby communities, so a family choosing this school is also choosing the Spartanburg 6 feeder pattern. Dawkins does not offer a high school graduation rate because it serves only middle grades, and data on chronic absenteeism was not available for this report. Information on special education and English learner populations was also missing from the available records, so a parent with a child in those programs should ask the school directly about staffing and resources.

For a family looking at this school, the picture is mixed. The school serves a diverse, moderately high-need population. ELA instruction is a clear strength. Math achievement is a soft spot that warrants attention. The school sits in a low-density, car-dependent suburb where home values exceed the state average, and the area has seen some gradual growth and recent school construction in the district. A parent considering Dawkins Middle will want to understand how the school supports students who are below grade level in math and what programs are available for students who are already proficient, as well as how the transition to high school is handled for eighth graders heading into Spartanburg 6’s high schools.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 35% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 26% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 22% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 51% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 765%

School 65% · District 53% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 47% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 38% · ▲ 5 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 766%

School 66% · District 54% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolSpartanburg 06, 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-income49%Higher-income72%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income83%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income76%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income62%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income64%41 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income48%25 pp gap