Alabama’s school report card grades show the majority of public schools in the state – more than 700 – improved their overall score from last year.

Statewide, more schools scored A’s and B’s over last year, but more schools also scored F’s. Out of public K-12 schools, 1,243 were ranked.

Scroll down to see individual school grades.

The grade letter reflects the overall score for a school, which is a combination of measures of achievement, graduation rates, readiness for life after high school and chronic absenteeism.

Four schools scored a perfect 100, with one making a repeat performance from last year:

• Brookwood Forest Elementary in Mountain Brook,
• Mountain Brook Elementary in Mountain Brook,
• Liberty Park Elementary in Vestavia Hills – made a 100 last year, too, and
• Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) in Montgomery County

Twelve school districts had all schools earn A’s, up from five school districts with all A’s last year:

• Arab City – four schools,
• Cullman City – five schools,
• Gulf Shores City – three schools,
• Hartselle City – six schools,
• Homewood City – five schools,
• Madison City – 11 schools,
• Mountain Brook City – six schools,
• Piedmont City – three schools,
• Satsuma City – two schools,
• Trussville City – five schools,
• Vestavia Hills City – nine schools,
• Winfield City – three schools.

Two schools stuck out as most improved, and both were virtual schools – meaning students all learn online. Houston County and Dothan City’s virtual academy improved their scores by more than 20 points, with both rising to C’s this year from F’s last year.

A total of 49 schools in the state improved their scores by double digits, including schools in districts such as Birmingham, Dothan and Escambia County.

Public charter schools’ grades were low again this year, with the exception of University Charter School in Livingston in west Alabama, which again earned a ‘B’. LEAD Academy’s middle school showed the most improvement among charter schools, raising their overall score 16 points over last year’s, ending with a score of 74.

The table below shows the overall 2022-23 state scores for a school. A 10-point grading scale is used to assign letter grades.

Click here if you are unable to see the table.

Here’s a link to the state report card website where you can see all of the indicators in one place.

The federal report card contains a lot of information the state report card does not, including information on teacher credentials and school spending. Here’s a link to the federal report card site.

The state and federal indicators are described in more detail below.

A complete look at how each indicator was calculated is on the state department’s web site.

Alabama lawmakers passed the law requiring the use of letter grades for school and district report cards in 2012, but letter-grade report cards were not released until 2017.

Academic achievement

The academic achievement indicator reflects the test results for grades that are tested. Students in grades 3 through 8 take tests in math and reading, and students in grades 4, 6, and 8 also take a test in science.

This is an example of an indicator where the state calculation is different from the federally-required calculation. In Alabama, achievement of English learners is only included after a student has been in the United States for six years where the federal calculation includes progress of English learners who have been in the U.S. for at least three years. The state report card, which contains a letter grade, is posted at a different link than the federal report card.

Achievement scores ranged from 8.75 in Sumter County’s Central High School to a 100 in 18 schools across the state.

That numerical score for achievement, though, doesn’t tell us how many students reached proficiency on the test. Scores for the achievement and growth indicators are weighted, meaning high-scorers earn a school extra points.

For example, on the achievement indicator, students at the highest level, Level 4, earn the school 1.25 points. Students at Level 3, meaning the student reached the proficient level, earn 1 point. Students at Level 2, those that are close to proficiency, earn 0.5 points toward the total.

The report card website gives a breakdown of the percentage of students in all grades at the school that scored at each proficiency level.

Alabama students take the ACAP in second through eighth grade, and only results from third through eighth grade are used to calculate grades.

At the high school level, the ACT college entrance exam, given to all 11th graders, is used as the achievement measure. Three parts of the ACT—English, math, and science—are used in the calculation.

Academic growth

The academic growth measure reflects growth from the previous year to the current year. Educators generally see growth as a fairer measure of their impact on student learning.

Academic growth scores ranged from 57.6 in Clark Elementary School in Selma to 100 in 547 schools.

The growth measure is also weighted, meaning additional points are given for high growth, so a high score doesn’t necessarily mean all students showed great improvement. A 100 does not mean all students are growing.

The breakdown for how many students grew at which rates is not provided by the state department.

Graduation rates, college- and career-readiness rates

The other two categories of measures on the state report card are graduation rate and college- and career-readiness rate. Those measures are only be calculated for schools with a 12th grade and for school districts.

Both of these scores are calculated based on the previous year’s graduates, meaning the class of 2022′s achievements are used for the 2022-23 calculations.

Graduation rates are based only on four-year-cohorts, meaning it will measure the percentage of students who graduate with a diploma four years after entering high school as a 9th-grader.

Graduation rates ranged from 51.8% at Acceleration Day and Evening Academy in Mobile to 100% at 12 high schools statewide.

College and career readiness rates are based on the percentage of graduating seniors who have earned at least one of the following achievements:

• Earning a benchmark score in any subject area on the ACT college entrance exam,
• Earning a qualifying score of 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam,
• Earning a qualifying score of 4 or higher on an International Baccalaureate (IB) exam,
• Earning college credit while in high school,
• Earning a silver or gold level on the ACT WorkKeys exam,
• Earning a career technical industry credential,
• Be a career technical completer,
• Complete a Registered Apprenticeship,
• Being accepted into the military or
• Any additional college and career readiness indicator approved by the State Board of Education.

College and career-readiness rates ranged from 27.7% at Tarrant High School in Tarrant City schools to 100% at 9 high schools statewide.

Earning an indicator is not required currently but will be for high school graduation beginning with graduates in the class of 2026.

Chronic absenteeism

The chronic absenteeism measure, which reflects the percentage of students missing 18 or more days of school in an academic year, remained at 17.9% during the 2022-23 school year, meaning the percentage of students who were chronically absent statewide did not change.

Among districts statewide, the percentage of students who were chronically absent ranged from zero in 13 schools to 60.7% at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham City schools.

Progress in English language proficiency

This score is a measure for progress of students learning the English language. In schools where there are at least 20 students learning the English language in tested grades, 5% of a school’s or district’s score will be calculated from student progress.

Statewide, 288 schools received a score in this category, and those scores ranged from zero in Alexander City Middle School in Alexander City Schools to 100 in Heritage Elementary School in Madison City schools.

Proficiency, students and teachers – Federal report card only

The federal report card contains a lot of information the state report card does not.

For example, the federal report card shows how many students in each grade, the percentage of students who:

• Are English learners in their first year,
• Have disabilities,
• Have limited English proficiency,
• Are economically disadvantaged,
• Are homeless,
• Are in foster care,
• Are in military families

The federal report card also shows the percentage of students who are proficient in math, English language arts and science and what percentage of students actually took the test.

What percentage of teachers and other educators have two or fewer years of experience, are teaching out-of-field, and are teaching with regular, emergency or provisional certificates is also included on the federal report card.