Burdick Elementary, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Burdick Elementary

Burdick Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, offering a single-school path from early childhood through the middle grades on one campus. The school is part of Milwaukee Public Schools and is classified as a regular public school. The student body mixes racial and ethnic backgrounds, with the largest groups in the data being students who identify as Hispanic and as White, followed by smaller groups identifying as Black, Asian, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academically, Burdick’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint when compared with districts across Milwaukee County. The state testing data shows a pattern worth considering grade by grade. In English language arts, proficiency rates climb as students get older: the early grades show roughly a third or less of students meeting the bar, while seventh and eighth grade rates are noticeably higher. Math proficiency follows a less consistent upward trend, with rates in the middle grades generally lower than in the upper grades. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth and eighth grades; in both subjects the eighth-grade rates are higher than the fourth-grade rates, and eighth-grade social studies in particular shows a strong proficiency outcome. A parent may want to ask the school about how it supports math achievement in the middle grades, where the numbers are softer.

Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate, ACT data, or college-readiness metrics to evaluate. The data does not include information on special education identification rates, English learner enrollment, chronic absenteeism, or discipline, so those dimensions are not available to assess here.

Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest city, situated on Lake Michigan with a history as a manufacturing and port hub. It remains a center for corporate headquarters in financial services, industrial automation, and energy, and it has a notable concentration of hospitals and universities. The city also has deep racial segregation and persistent economic disparities. Housing in the area surrounding Burdick has roughly typical values for a Midwestern urban neighborhood. The city’s population has declined over successive censuses, though downtown and riverfront areas have seen redevelopment. Milwaukee Public Schools recently approved a substantial referendum for building accessibility projects, part of a longer-term facilities plan that may involve school consolidations, and the district faces a budget gap tied to declining enrollment and expiring federal funds. These district-level conditions could affect school-level resources and programming in coming years.

For a family deciding whether Burdick fits, the school offers a stable K‑8 setting in a single building, which some families prefer for continuity. The academic picture is mixed, with clearer strength in upper-grade reading and social studies, and softer math results in the middle grades. The surrounding city provides extensive cultural and economic opportunities but also significant inequality and a school district undergoing financial and facilities restructuring. A family would want to visit, ask about math instruction in grades five through seven, and understand how district-wide budget pressures may affect this particular school’s programs and class sizes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 19% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 18% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 22% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 19% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 22% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 22% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 21% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 24% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 28% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 29% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Science

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 20% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 22% · ▲ 29 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 32% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 36% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolMilwaukee 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-income22%Higher-income55%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income41%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income57%38 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income46%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income74%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income47%Higher-income81%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income17%Higher-income46%28 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income41%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income23%Higher-income71%49 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income21%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income53%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income16%Higher-income50%34 pp gap