Edison Elementary, Appleton WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Edison Elementary

Edison Elementary is a regular public school in Appleton, Wisconsin, serving students from prekindergarten through sixth grade. It is one of the elementary schools within the Appleton Area School District and sits in a residential neighborhood on the city’s north side. The school is an important academic home for families in this part of town, and for a parent or resident considering it, the picture is shaped mostly by the school’s state test results, its enrollment composition, and the broader character of Appleton.

Appleton itself is a mid-sized city with a well-diversified economy rooted in manufacturing, healthcare, and education. Its downtown along College Avenue is a walkable regional hub with cultural institutions including the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and the Trout Museum of Art. Lawrence University sits adjacent to downtown, and the city supports a network of parks and trails. Housing in the area around the school carries a moderate price tag relative to the national market, though affordability is a factor many families weigh carefully. The district does not appear to have recently undertaken major referendums or boundary changes that would be immediately relevant to a parent, based on publicly available information.

At Edison, the student body is a diverse mix. Most students identify as white, with a substantial share identifying as Hispanic, Asian, Black, or two or more races. Just over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of economic need that gives some context to the school’s overall demographic and resource picture. The school is not a charter or magnet institution, and it does not have a Title I status reported. Because Edison serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report; that metric applies only to high schools.

State testing data is available for the most recent year and covers grades three through five in math and English language arts, and grade four in science and social studies. The results show a pattern worth understanding closely. In third grade, both math and English language arts proficiency rates are around the midpoint of what one might hope to see. By fourth grade, the numbers in both subjects drop noticeably, and the decline continues into fifth grade. The fourth-grade science and social studies results are a bit stronger than the math and English figures at that level. Taken as a whole, the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades lands in the bottom quartile among districts in Outagamie County. This is a soft spot that a parent would likely want to investigate further with the school itself. The data suggests that as students move through the upper elementary grades, fewer are meeting state proficiency benchmarks in core subjects. That trend may reflect a range of factors, including student background, curriculum, or instructional support, and it is the kind of pattern that a conversation with the principal or a classroom visit could illuminate.

The district as a whole did not appear in the research for any recent headline changes like a boundary shift or a major curriculum overhaul, so the stability a parent sees now is likely what has been in place. The school website and district communications are the best source for details on programs that may be active at Edison, since the available data does not list specific offerings such as art, music, or enrichment activities.

For a family deciding where to send a child, Edison offers a neighborhood school setting in a city with real cultural and economic assets. The academic data points to challenges in the upper elementary years, particularly in math and reading by fifth grade. That does not define the school, but it does define a question any parent should pursue: how does the school support students who are not yet proficient, and what is the trajectory for children who arrive above or below grade level. The answers to those questions will matter more than any single test snapshot.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 54% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 53% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 54% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 50% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 50% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 53% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Science

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 49% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 60% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolAppleton Area School District, 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 3Lower-income36%Higher-income75%39 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income63%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income78%52 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income58%8 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income36%Higher-income83%48 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income46%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income56%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income58%42 pp gap