Elementary school (grades K-5) · Evanston, IL

Walker Elem School

Federal NCES profile for Walker Elem School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 171446001801
0/100100/10042/100
👥 S:T ratio
53
🌟 Gifted program
30
📋 Attendance
42
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Walker Elem School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of Illinois schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Illinois schools.

#7 of 11
elementary schools in Evanston · Resource Index
42
Resource Index · Typical
11.7:1
small classes for Illinois
364
students enrolled

Walker Elem School has class sizes smaller than 75% of Illinois schools. Computed live against every Illinois school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Walker Elem School ranks #7 of 11 elementary schools in Evanston, IL.

School address

Enrollment

364

Illinois · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

31.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11.7:1

vs 14:1 Illinois avg

-16% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Walker Elem School compares with Illinois and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Walker Elem School

Walker Elem School is a mid-sized elementary school in Evanston, Illinois, enrolling 364 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.7:1 puts it in the smaller third of Illinois schools by student-teacher ratio.

With 364 students, its enrollment sits close to the Illinois median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 3,845 scored Illinois schools.

Its student body is led by White (41%) and African American (23%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 74/100).

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 23.1% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

The surrounding Evanston Ccsd 65 spends $26,040 per pupil, 53% above the Illinois average, a better-resourced district than most.

Among Evanston's elementary schools, it stands alongside Dr Ml King Jr Literary&Fine Arts (421 students): Walker Elem School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (11.7:1 vs 8.1:1).

Evanston Ccsd 65 also operates Haven Middle School (660 students) and Nichols Middle School (628 students) alongside Walker Elem School.

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 Walker Elem School compares

Walker Elem School on the metrics families compare, against Illinois and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Illinois Illinois avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 11.7:1 ▼ 16% 14:1 15.7:1
Enrollment 364 top 51% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

11.7:1
Leaner classes than 78% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
364
Bigger than 42% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Staffing depth
11.7:1
students per teacher - 16% below state mean
Top 25% in Illinois - lower ratio than 75% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
23.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$26,040
per pupil, district-wide - above Illinois avg of $17,042
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.3 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 40.9%
African American 23.4%
Two or More 13.2%
Asian 11.3%
Hispanic or Latino 11.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%

Largest group: White at 40.9% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 73.6/100

Simpson diversity index - at 73.6, Walker Elem School is more mixed than the Illinois school average of 38.9.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Evanston Ccsd 65, which includes Walker Elem School.

$26,040
Per student
+53%
vs Illinois
Avg $17,042
+57%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 66.1%
State 25.9%
Federal 8.0%

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 Walker Elem School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Haven Middle School Larger No free-lunch data Lower S:T ratio
Nichols Middle School Larger No free-lunch data Lower S:T ratio
Chute Middle School Larger No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio
Dr Ml King Jr Literary&Fine Arts Similar size No free-lunch data Lower S:T ratio
Washington Elem School Similar size No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Walker Elem School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Evanston Ccsd 65 · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Evanston

6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.

Similar elementary schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Illinois, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Walker Elem School's federal record.

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 Walker Elem School

How many students attend Walker Elem School?

Walker Elem School has 364 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Evanston, IL.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Walker Elem School?

The student-teacher ratio at Walker Elem School is 11.7:1, which is 16% lower than the Illinois average of 14:1 and 25% 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 Walker Elem School?

The largest demographic group at Walker Elem School is White at 40.9% of enrollment, in Evanston, IL. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 73.6/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Walker Elem School?

Walker Elem School has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Walker Elem School rank among elementary schools in Evanston?

By Resource Investment Index, Walker Elem School ranks #7 of 11 elementary schools in Evanston, IL. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Evanston on the city page.

Is Walker Elem School a good school?

Walker Elem School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of Illinois schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Illinois schools. 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 Evanston Ccsd 65?

Besides Walker Elem School, Evanston Ccsd 65 also operates Haven Middle School (660 students), Nichols Middle School (628 students), and Chute Middle School (598 students). See the Evanston Ccsd 65 district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

View saved

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.