Austin Middle, Amarillo TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Austin Middle

Austin Middle serves grades six through eight in Amarillo and shows a profile of emerging strength in English language arts alongside significant challenges in mathematics and science. The school drew a middle-range proficiency overall within Potter County districts, with clear performance variation across subjects and grade levels that a parent may want to understand in detail.

In English language arts, the school's results are its clearest strength. About half or more of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders met or exceeded proficiency on state assessment, with seventh-graders posting the highest outcomes. By contrast, mathematics proficiency drops sharply by grade. Sixth graders showed modest proficiency, seventh graders faced steep difficulty with only a small share meeting the standard, and eighth graders rebounded to about two in five students proficient. This middle-grade slump in math is pronounced and worth exploring with the school: whether it reflects curriculum transitions, student support capacity at that level, or other factors. Science proficiency at the eighth-grade level sits at about one in three, well below the ELA performance. Social studies proficiency was the lowest area tested, at one in five students.

The school enrolls a student body that is roughly balanced between white and Hispanic students, with smaller shares of Black, Asian, and other groups. About two in three students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community with substantial economic need. Enrollment is stable across the three grades served. The school sits in a zip code where median home values are moderate for the region, and rental costs remain below the national median, though both have risen modestly year over year. This is a neighborhood with genuine housing affordability.

Amarillo itself is in modest growth, driven largely by net in-migration and development on the south and southwest sides toward Randall County. The downtown has seen investment in cultural life, the library system serves as a civic hub, and employers span healthcare, food processing, defense manufacturing, and energy. Potter County, where Austin Middle sits, actually declined in population over the past decade, with most city growth occurring in adjacent Randall County. This matters for understanding the school's context: it serves a stable, economically mixed community in a county that is not experiencing rapid expansion.

The school provides no information on special education or English learner populations in the data available. Program offerings and staffing details were not provided. A parent considering Austin Middle might want to request specifics on how the school supports students, especially in mathematics at the seventh-grade transition, and what interventions or extensions are in place for students working below or above grade level. The ELA results suggest the school has foundations to build on; the math results signal an area where more clarity on root causes and support strategies would help a family make a grounded choice.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 37% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 18% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 55% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 47% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 53% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Science

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 42% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 27% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolAMARILLO 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 6Lower-income52%Higher-income61%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income52%Higher-income72%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income49%Higher-income76%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income35%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income12%Higher-income10%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income58%25 pp gap