The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cheatham El
Cheatham Elementary is a small rural school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in Clarksville, a county seat in the northern Piney Woods of East Texas. The school enrolls a modest-sized student body across its grade band, with all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is diverse: just under half the enrollment is Black, roughly a quarter Hispanic, and the remainder White or multiracial.
State test results from the most recent school year show consistently low proficiency across subjects and grades. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from very low in fourth grade to low-to-modest in third and fifth grades. English language arts shows somewhat stronger performance than math, with third grade at the highest rate among tested grades; fourth and fifth grade ELA proficiency is lower. Fifth-grade science proficiency is notably weak. Across all subjects combined, about half of students meet the "approaches" performance level, the lowest step on the state scale, while only a small fraction reach "meets" or "masters" levels. A parent may want to look into the school's current academic support systems and any new initiatives the district or school has launched to help students build stronger foundational skills in both literacy and numeracy.
Among the four school districts in Red River County, Cheatham's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. This reflects a broader pattern: the school's test results suggest students are entering the upper elementary grades with significant gaps that assessments are surfacing in the third, fourth, and fifth grade tests. The school's setting is rural and economically stressed. Clarksville itself is a slow-growing, aging town centered on a historic square, with an economy that contracted sharply decades ago and has not recovered. The wider county has seen population decline over many years. Housing in the area is older, affordable, and mostly renter-occupied. The school district is small, which means fewer programs and staff resources than larger districts but also a close-knit community setting.
Cheatham serves an entirely economically disadvantaged student population, which shapes what supports may be available and what constraints the school faces in staffing and program breadth. The school's role is foundational: it is where students in early elementary grades learn to read and do math, skills on which all later learning builds. The proficiency data suggests that task is proving difficult for this particular student body, whether due to readiness gaps when children enter school, instructional approach, staffing capacity, or other factors. This is a school where the academic challenge is real and visible in the numbers. For a family considering enrollment, understanding what the school is doing to address these gaps and what additional support might be available at home would be important conversations to have with the school leadership.
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