Houston Elementary, Houston MN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Houston Elementary

Houston Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through sixth grade in the very small rural city of Houston, Minnesota, located in the Root River Valley bluff country. The school is part of the Houston Public School District, which also operates an online learning program open to students statewide. The town itself is compact, with a traditional grid layout, and its civic life centers on Trailhead Park, the Houston Nature Center, and the Root River Bike Trail. Population growth has been flat for decades, and the community has a strong identity built around outdoor recreation and annual events. Housing values in the area sit near the middle of the state range, and mortgage costs are moderate relative to local incomes.

Enrollment at Houston Elementary is small, and the student body is overwhelmingly white, with very small shares of students identifying as two or more races, American Indian, Black, or Hispanic. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider.

On state assessments, Houston Elementary’s results place it among the strongest schools in Houston County when compared with other county districts. In math, proficiency rates rise across grade levels, with the lowest share of students meeting standards in third grade and the highest in fifth and sixth grades. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: the third-grade proficiency rate is below the school’s overall average, while the upper elementary grades show stronger results, with fifth grade reaching the highest share. Fifth-grade science performance lands between those two poles. Because only one year of test data is available, it is not possible to see a trend. The overall proficiency picture is solid, and relative to the five districts in the county the school stands in the top quarter.

The school’s small size means that parents may find a close-knit environment where teachers know students well. The district has not publicly reported any recent major changes to curriculum, referendums, or property tax shifts. Information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, staffing ratios, and course access was not available, so a full picture of school climate and support systems would need to come from direct inquiry with the school.

Houston Elementary serves a stable, rural community with modest economic diversity and academic results that are a clear strength within its county. Families considering the school should weigh the advantages of a small-town setting and strong test performance against the limited public data on other operational and climate measures.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 42% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 59% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 50% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 44% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 52% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 61% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 62% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 58% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Science

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 36% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median

This schoolHOUSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income13%Higher-income91%78 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income73%Higher-income77%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income71%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income73%46 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income77%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income65%2 pp gap