Soper

The town of Soper, Oklahoma is home to two schools - Soper Elementary School and Soper High School. While the elementary school has a relatively large enrollment of 262 students, it has experienced a decline in its statewide ranking over the years, dropping from 354 out of 846 Oklahoma elementary schools in 2010-2011 to 719 out of 957 in 2014-2015. The school also has a high percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients at 77.48%, indicating a relatively low-income student population.

In contrast, Soper High School has a much smaller enrollment of 80 students and performs poorly on state assessments, with only 21.4% of 11th graders proficient or better in English Language Arts and just 7.1% proficient or better in Mathematics for the 2023-2024 school year. The high school also has a very low 4-year graduation rate of 80.1% for the 2021-2022 school year.

While Soper High School spends more per student ($12,085) compared to Soper Elementary School ($8,754), the high school's performance metrics are significantly worse. This suggests that simply increasing funding may not be the sole solution to improving educational outcomes, and other factors such as teaching quality, curriculum, and school leadership may play a crucial role. Additionally, the high percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients at both schools (over 77% at the elementary school and 80% at the high school) suggests that the Soper community faces significant socioeconomic challenges, which may contribute to the academic struggles observed in the data.