Charles a Gill El, Dallas TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Charles a Gill El

Charles A. Gill Elementary serves a predominantly Hispanic and Black student body in southeast Dallas, with a majority from families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school enrolls students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and serves a community where the housing market shows signs of stability with modest ownership costs relative to the county, though the median rent is declining slightly. Within Dallas County's school district comparison set, Gill's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint, an encouraging position that reflects the foundational academic work of an elementary school serving a high-need population.

The school's state test results show uneven performance across grades and subjects. In math, third-grade proficiency sits below half of students meeting standard, while fourth grade inches up modestly. By fifth grade, math proficiency drops considerably, with fewer than one-third of students meeting the standard, suggesting the cumulative challenge of building skills grows steeper as students advance. In English language arts, fifth-grade performance is stronger, with half the class meeting standard, yet third-grade ELA performance in Spanish is notably low. Science proficiency in fifth grade is the weakest area across tested subjects, with only about a quarter of students reaching proficiency. Across all subjects, the share of students meeting advanced mastery is modest, clustering in the low-to-mid range.

The school serves a student body that is highly economically disadvantaged. More than nine out of ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure well above typical district norms, reflecting the community's economic realities. The enrollment is roughly two-thirds Hispanic, one-fifth Black, and the remainder spread across Asian, white, and multiracial students. The school's grade distribution is relatively even across pre-K through fifth grade, indicating stable, age-appropriate enrollment with no grade bulges.

Dallas ISD, which operates Gill, recently approved a historic bond that will replace or upgrade aging schools and eliminate all portable classrooms within the next five years, a significant commitment to physical plant that could affect school conditions. The district also shifted to an opt-out model for advanced coursework, automatically enrolling high-performing students into honors classes to broaden access to college prep tracks, and adopted a new district math curriculum intended to reduce test-prep teaching and focus on skill mastery. These changes shape the instructional and equity landscape across all district schools.

The neighborhood setting in southeast Dallas is an area with modest housing values and rental costs. The broader Dallas context includes a region in strong growth, with major corporate employers, a walkable downtown and cultural core, and substantial new residential development, though most of Dallas remains car-dependent outside its central neighborhoods. For a family enrolling at Gill, the reality is a school that serves an economically stretched community with visible academic gaps, particularly in upper elementary math and science, and a building on the cusp of district-wide improvements in facilities and curriculum design. The school sits above its county peer group in overall proficiency, a concrete baseline that reflects the work being done within a challenging demographic setting.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 19% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 21% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 46% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 50% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 52% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 58% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 13% · ▲ 10 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolDALLAS 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

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income100%61 pp gap