Enrollment
260
Tennessee · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Cowan, TN
Cowan Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Cowan Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 48/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 470129000386
👥 S:T ratio 45
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 48
📋 Attendance 70
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cowan Elementary earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Tennessee median.
- 48
- Resource Index · Typical
- 13.7:1
- students per teacher
- 260
- students enrolled
Cowan Elementary has class sizes near the Tennessee median. Computed live against every Tennessee school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Franklin County · Tennessee
NCES ID 470129000386 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
19.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.7:1
vs 15.3:1 Tennessee avg
-10% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cowan Elementary compares with Tennessee and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cowan Elementary
Cowan Elementary is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Cowan, Tennessee, enrolling 260 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 13.7:1 puts it in the smaller third of Tennessee schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 260 puts it in the smaller third of Tennessee schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,838 scored Tennessee schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (85% of enrollment) (diversity index 27/100).
Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 260 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.
11.9% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
Its district draws 20.2% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Franklin County also operates Franklin Co High School (1,144 students) and Huntland School (631 students) alongside Cowan Elementary.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Cowan Elementary compares
Cowan Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Tennessee and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Tennessee | Tennessee avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 13.7:1 | ▼ 10% | 15.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 260 | top 82% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.7:1
Leaner classes than 60% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
260
Bigger than 27% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
13.7:1
students per teacher
- 10% below state mean
Top 34% in Tennessee - lower ratio than 66% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
11.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 10-15% range, above the pre-pandemic national baseline but within the broader post-pandemic picture.
Funding equity
$10,515
per pupil, district-wide
- below Tennessee avg of $10,822
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 260 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 85.0%
African American 5.8%
Hispanic or Latino 5.4%
Two or More 3.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.8%
Largest group: White at 85.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 27.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 27.0, Cowan Elementary is less mixed than the Tennessee school average of 38.3.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Franklin County, which includes Cowan Elementary.
$10,515
Per student
-3%
vs Tennessee
Avg $10,822
-37%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 32.9%
State 46.9%
Federal 20.2%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Cowan Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Co High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Huntland School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| North Middle School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Clark Memorial School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Decherd Elementary | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Cowan Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,144
- Students per teacher
- 14.7:1
- Resource Index
- 49/100
- Enrollment
- 631
- Students per teacher
- 13.7:1
- Resource Index
- 54/100
- Enrollment
- 557
- Students per teacher
- 17.4:1
- Resource Index
- 29/100
- Enrollment
- 539
- Students per teacher
- 15:1
- Resource Index
- 44/100
- Enrollment
- 436
- Students per teacher
- 16.1:1
- Resource Index
- 31/100
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Tennessee, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~260 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~13.7:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cowan Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Cowan Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Franklin County's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Cowan Elementary
How many students attend Cowan Elementary?
Cowan Elementary has 260 students enrolled. It is a public school in Cowan, TN.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cowan Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Cowan Elementary is 13.7:1, which is 10% lower than the Tennessee average of 15.3:1 and 13% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cowan Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Cowan Elementary is White at 85.0% of enrollment, in Cowan, TN.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cowan Elementary?
Cowan Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 48/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Cowan Elementary a good school?
Cowan Elementary earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Tennessee median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Franklin County?
Besides Cowan Elementary, Franklin County also operates Franklin Co High School (1,144 students), Huntland School (631 students), and North Middle School (557 students). See the Franklin County district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.