Stephens El, Houston TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Stephens El

Stephens Elementary is a regular public school serving first through fifth grade in Houston's northeast side, within the Aldine Independent School District. The school enrolls a small student body drawn almost entirely from a single residential area, where the vast majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and over ninety percent of students identify as Hispanic.

On the most recent state assessment data available, Stephens shows proficiency rates that sit below the middle of the range among Harris County elementary schools. In English language arts across tested grades, results range from low (just under a third of third-graders meeting or exceeding the standard) to stronger (over half of fifth-graders proficient), with a marked improvement between the younger and older grades. In mathematics, the pattern is similar: third and fifth-grade proficiency rates hover around the same low point, near or slightly below one-third. Science proficiency in fifth grade is substantially lower, with only about one in ten students meeting the standard. Overall proficiency across subjects and grades sits below the county midpoint. The assessment data was complete for grades three and five but very sparse for grade four, where only a handful of students appear in the database, suggesting either a particularly small cohort or incomplete test administration.

The school occupies a neighborhood on the northern edge of Houston, an area shaped by the city's absence of traditional zoning. Here, residential blocks, small commercial strips, and light industrial uses coexist, evolving gradually as buildings adapt to new purposes. The immediate housing market reflects modest values, with homes in the school's zip code valued at a level roughly consistent with but slightly below the state benchmark. Rents and home prices alike are relatively accessible compared to Houston as a whole, though the economic context shows a tight labor market and mortgage rates in the mid-range.

The composition of the student body is highly uniform: nearly all students are Latino, drawn from families where very high rates depend on public assistance for meals. School enrollment is stable at just over five hundred, distributed fairly evenly across the five grades. State testing results for grade four, the data gaps, and the absence of attendance, discipline, or staffing information from the available records mean a parent would need to contact the school directly to build a fuller picture of how support services operate, what the daily environment feels like, or how well the school is positioned to help students move forward. The pronounced gap between third-grade results and fifth-grade results in English language arts is a feature to understand more deeply: a parent may want to look into this further with the school to learn whether older students have benefited from particular supports or whether the cohort itself differs in composition or background.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 28% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 36% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 31% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 14% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

This schoolALDINE ISD, 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-income30%Higher-income38%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income54%Higher-income70%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income22%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income50%4 pp gap