Besteiro Middle, Brownsville TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Besteiro Middle

Besteiro Middle, located in Brownsville on the city's south side, serves the sixth through eighth grades in a working-class borderland community where the vast majority of students are Hispanic and come from households with very limited income. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school's enrollment of roughly mid-sized for a middle school has remained stable across the grade band.

On state testing, Besteiro shows uneven performance across grades and subjects. In math, sixth graders reach proficiency at a modest rate, seventh graders at a much lower rate, and eighth graders at a substantially higher rate, suggesting that baseline math skills entering middle school are weak but that instruction by the final year brings a meaningful portion of students to proficiency. In English language arts, sixth graders show modest proficiency, seventh graders perform noticeably better, and eighth graders fall back to moderate performance. Science and social studies are tested only in eighth grade; proficiency in science reaches a modest level, while proficiency in social studies is considerably lower. When looked at across all grades and subjects tested, Besteiro's overall proficiency index places the school above the midpoint among districts in Cameron County, meaning there are schools performing lower and schools performing higher in the same county.

The pattern across subjects suggests that students are building ground as they move through middle school in some areas but that foundational gaps in areas like social studies and seventh-grade math point to significant instructional challenges. A parent considering this school may want to look further into what the school offers in terms of academic support, tutoring, or intervention for students entering at lower proficiency levels, particularly in seventh grade.

Brownsville ISD, the district housing Besteiro, faces structural budget constraints that shape what families experience. Voters rejected a major bond package in late 2025 aimed at facility repairs, meaning aging roofs, heating and cooling systems, and windows at many of the district's schools will continue to receive only emergency-level maintenance rather than systematic overhaul. The district has also consolidated elementary schools in response to enrollment decline and budget pressures, closed after-school academy programs due to federal funding cuts, and operates with ongoing budget deficits covered partly by drawing down its fund balance. For 2026-2027, the district improved the student-teacher ratio at middle schools from higher to lower, a direct reduction in class size that benefits families.

Housing values in the Brownsville area are modest, and rental costs are affordable relative to local incomes. The city itself is in strong growth driven by major investment from SpaceX, the Port of Brownsville, and Texas LNG, though that growth centers more on the north side and downtown than on the Southmost neighborhood where Besteiro sits.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 34% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 711%

School 11% · District 13% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 52% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 51% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 55% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 47% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Science

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 34% · ▲ 8 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 26% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolBROWNSVILLE 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-income39%Higher-income100%61 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income52%Higher-income70%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income100%70 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income11%Higher-income20%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income59%Higher-income86%27 pp gap