T.H. Rogers Elementary achieved top STAAR scores in both Math and Reading.
T.H. Rogers is the best elementary and middle school in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) by state test scores. The results aren’t terribly surprising given that every student at Rogers must be designated gifted and talented and apply to attend. Other top elementary schools with less onerous attendance requirements include West University, River Oaks, Horn, and Mandarin Immersion. Other top middle schools include Briarmeadow Charter, Mandarin Immersion, Lanier, and Pin Oak.
Texas STAAR Test Grading Levels
The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests are the primary, quantitative measure of academic performance for Texas public schools. All public school students in grades 3-12 take some number of STAAR tests, although the testing is most consistent in grades 3-8. The STAAR is administered every spring in core subjects including reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. The rankings in this article reflect the most recent test results from spring of 2023. Students’ scores are placed into four performance categories:
- Did Not Meet Grade Level – Like an “F” on a regular report card
- Approaches Grade Level – C
- Meets Grade Level – B
- Masters Grade Level – A
“Masters Grade Level” is the highest performance score level that a Texas public school student can achieve and generally represents the top 20% of tested students. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) asserts that students who score in the top two levels, “Meets” or “Masters,” have a more than 60% chance of passing college courses. A Texas public school’s Report Card will always show the percentage of enrolled students who scored in each of the four performance categories.
This ranking looks specifically at the percentage of a school’s students who scored in the highest, “Masters Grade Level” performance category. Because “Masters Grade Level” represents about the top 1/5 of public school students in Texas, any school where more than 20% of students are scoring above this level is exceptional by definition.
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Top Houston ISD Elementary Schools by STAAR “Masters” Scores
The best Houston ISD elementary schools are TH Rogers, West University, River Oaks, Horn, and Mandarin Immersion. Rogers and Mandarin Immersion are both magnet-only schools, meaning that every student at that school must apply and be admitted. Mandarin Immersion stands out in particular because every student there must learn Chinese Mandarin, but apparently not to the detriment of their English reading and writing skills.
Since the STAAR is a peer-normed test in which only about 20% of students will earn the “Masters” designation, any school on this list with higher than 20% is performing better than average. As such, there are at least 40 (23%) Houston ISD elementary schools that are outperforming the Texas state average.
| wdt_ID | Rank | School | Average Mastery | % Mastery Reading | % Mastery Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 129 | Alcott El | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | 93 | Almeda El | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| 3 | 146 | Anderson El | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 20 | Arabic Immersion Magnet School | 33 | 34 | 32 |
| 5 | 94 | Ashford El | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 6 | 82 | Askew El | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| 7 | 59 | Atherton El | 16 | 19 | 13 |
| 8 | 83 | Barrick El | 12 | 9 | 15 |
| 9 | 27 | Bastian El | 25 | 19 | 31 |
| 10 | 95 | Bell El | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| 11 | 132 | Benavidez El | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 12 | 65 | Benbrook El | 15 | 17 | 13 |
| 13 | 52 | Berry El | 17 | 12 | 22 |
| 14 | 153 | Blackshear El | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 15 | 116 | Bonham El | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 16 | 105 | Bonner El | 10 | 8 | 13 |
| 17 | 117 | Braeburn El | 9 | 8 | 11 |
| 18 | 53 | Briargrove El | 17 | 19 | 15 |
| 19 | 45 | Briarmeadow Charter | 19 | 19 | 20 |
| 20 | 84 | Briscoe El | 12 | 18 | 7 |
| 21 | 35 | Brookline El | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| 22 | 118 | Browning El | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| 23 | 154 | Bruce El | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| 24 | 54 | Burbank El | 17 | 16 | 19 |
| 25 | 55 | Burnet El | 17 | 19 | 15 |
| Rank | School | Average Mastery | % Mastery Reading | % Mastery Math |
Top Houston ISD Middle Schools by STAAR “Masters” Scores
The best Houston ISD middle schools are TH Rogers, Briarmeadow Charter, Mandarin Immersion, Lanier, and Pin Oak. All of the top 5 middle schools except Lanier are magnet-only schools, meaning that every student who attends those schools must apply and be admitted. Briarmeadow Charter stands out in particular for its dramatic improvement in STAAR scores over the last three years. For example, in 2021 only 25% of 8th grade students scored at the “Masters” level versus 62% in 2023.
Thirteen middle schools (23%) are performing better than the Texas state average since more than 20% of their students are earning the “Masters” designation.
| wdt_ID | Rank | School | Average Mastery | % Mastery Reading | % Mastery Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Arabic Immersion Magnet School | 17 | 24 | 10 |
| 2 | 35 | Attucks Middle | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | 9 | Baylor College Of Medicine Academy At Ryan | 25 | 38 | 12 |
| 4 | 22 | Baylor College Of Medicine Biotech Academy At Rusk | 14 | 25 | 4 |
| 5 | 12 | Black Middle | 23 | 31 | 16 |
| 6 | 2 | Briarmeadow Charter | 69 | 66 | 73 |
| 7 | 13 | Burbank Middle | 22 | 30 | 15 |
| 8 | 39 | Clifton Middle | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 9 | 54 | Cullen Middle | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | 40 | Deady Middle | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 11 | 36 | Edison Middle | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 12 | 6 | Ella J Baker Montessori School | 28 | 35 | 21 |
| 13 | 19 | Energized For Excellence Academy Inc Middle | 15 | 18 | 12 |
| 14 | 28 | Energized For Stem Academy Middle | 9 | 12 | 7 |
| 15 | 50 | Fleming Middle | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 16 | 41 | Fondren Middle | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 17 | 45 | Fonville Middle | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 18 | 55 | Forest Brook Middle | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | 23 | Garden Oaks Montessori | 14 | 20 | 9 |
| 20 | 27 | Gregory-Lincoln Ed Ctr | 10 | 16 | 5 |
| 21 | 56 | H S Ahead Academy | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | 20 | Hamilton Middle | 15 | 22 | 9 |
| 23 | 34 | Hartman Middle | 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 24 | 46 | Henry Middle | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 25 | 10 | Hogg Middle | 25 | 30 | 21 |
| Rank | School | Average Mastery | % Mastery Reading | % Mastery Math |
About the Data
This dataset, pulled from Data Interaction for Texas Student Assessments, is from the 2022-2023 school year. Elementary scores are weighted mastery scores from STAAR 3-5, and Middle scores are weighted mastery scores from STAAR 6-8. The “average mastery” column in the tables above is simply the average of the math and reading scores. For an interactive map of Houston-area school districts with schools, visit the TEA’s website.
