Lamar Middle, Austin TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Lamar Middle

Lamar Middle School sits in north Austin and serves roughly a medium-sized cohort of middle-grade students across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The school's academic profile is uneven: English language arts stands as a clear strength, with most students meeting or exceeding proficiency standards across all three grades. Science results are also solid. Reading comprehension and writing appear to be areas where the school's instruction is working. Mathematics and social studies, by contrast, reveal soft spots that may warrant a parent's closer look. Seventh-grade math is notably weak, with fewer than a quarter of students reaching proficiency, a sharp drop from the sixth-grade performance. Eighth-grade math recovers somewhat but still sits below where sixth-grade started. Social studies at eighth grade lands near the midpoint, with half the students proficient. In the context of other districts across Travis County, Lamar's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile, meaning the school performs above the median, yet the grade-by-grade and subject-specific variation suggests that student experience differs considerably by which class a child enters and which subject they are studying.

The school draws from a residential neighborhood on Austin's north side. Housing values in the 78757 zip code are substantial, roughly twice the Texas state median, though recent home price movement has been modest in decline. Rents have ticked upward slightly, and the housing-to-income ratio reflects a relatively affluent area; still, housing remains a significant household cost for families in this zone. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the student body is predominantly white and Hispanic, with smaller populations of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Enrollment across the three grades is fairly balanced, with sixth grade slightly smaller than seventh and eighth.

Austin ISD is in the midst of substantial change. In late 2022 voters approved a major bond package, one of the largest in Central Texas history, and facility upgrades are underway across the district. More recently, in late 2024, voters approved a property tax rate increase meant to fund staff raises and help narrow a budget deficit. In 2025 the board adopted a consolidation plan closing a number of schools by 2026-27 in response to declining district enrollment over the past decade, though Lamar Middle itself is not among the schools scheduled to close. The district is also implementing state-mandated turnaround plans at schools needing improvement, a sign of pressure to address performance gaps.

For a parent considering Lamar, the takeaway hinges on fit. If strong English language arts instruction and solid science are priorities, and if the student has consistent math support at home or is already secure in numeracy, the school aligns reasonably well. If math is a particular need or concern, a parent may want to look into the school's current supports for students below proficiency, especially in the seventh-grade cohort. The surrounding community is stable and affluent, the facility is receiving investment, and the school sits above county median in overall academic performance, yet the subject-to-subject and grade-to-grade variation means it is not uniformly strong.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 35% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 21% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 47% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 55% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 779%

School 79% · District 53% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 879%

School 79% · District 58% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Science

Grade 881%

School 81% · District 49% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

This schoolAUSTIN 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-income46%Higher-income89%43 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income89%43 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income88%40 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income75%42 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income16%Higher-income25%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income77%46 pp gap