The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on C a Tatum Jr El
C A Tatum Jr. Elementary sits on St. Augustine Road in Dallas's 75227 zip code, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within Dallas ISD. The school draws from a community where nearly every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is almost entirely Hispanic and Black. English learner counts were not reported in the data available here, though the STAAR assessments for several grade levels were administered in Spanish, which suggests a meaningful Spanish-speaking population. The school is a regular public campus, not a charter or magnet.
State testing results from the most recent year are available for grades three through five in reading and math, and for fifth grade in science. The picture they present is mixed and, in some areas, a parent will want to look into further. In reading, third and fourth grade proficiency rates sit below half, while fifth grade reaches roughly half of tested students. In fourth grade math, a modest majority of tested students reached proficiency, which is the strongest single result in the data. Fifth grade math, however, was far lower, and fifth grade science was notably weak, with only a very small share of students scoring proficient. Third grade math was suppressed due to a very small tested count, so that result is not available. The school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among districts in Dallas County, which is worth noting in context, though the grade-level detail tells a more complicated story beneath that summary position. Trend data covers only the most recent year, so there is no multi-year trajectory to read.
Dallas ISD has made several changes relevant to families thinking about academic opportunity. The district publicly reported a shift from opt-in to opt-out enrollment in advanced and honors courses, automatically placing students who perform well on state exams into accelerated math, reading, science, and social studies. That policy is a structural equity change worth understanding, particularly for families whose children are testing near grade level. The district also adopted a new math curriculum and eliminated its internal benchmark testing, redirecting instructional time away from internal test prep while students still take state STAAR exams. On the facilities side, Dallas ISD voters approved a record bond in May 2026 that will fund new schools, eliminate portable classrooms across the district, and upgrade safety and technology infrastructure over the next several years. Whether C A Tatum Jr. is among the campuses targeted for replacement or renovation is not specified in the available data, and families would want to ask the school or district directly.
The housing market immediately around the school runs well below both the Texas state median and the national median for home values, and rents are modest by Dallas standards. Year-over-year values in the zip code have declined modestly, making the area more affordable than much of the city at a moment when Dallas broadly is seeing strong residential construction and population growth. The wider city remains largely car-dependent outside of its walkable core neighborhoods, and this part of east Dallas is not among those walkable districts.
For a family weighing this school, the relevant questions cluster around academic support. Proficiency in reading and science at the upper elementary grades is low enough that a parent would reasonably want to understand what intervention and enrichment supports the school provides, how English learner students are served, and what the path looks like into middle school within Dallas ISD. The district's opt-out advanced enrollment policy means a student who reaches grade-level benchmarks should have access to accelerated coursework without needing to advocate to be placed there, which is a real structural advantage. Program-level information for C A Tatum Jr. specifically was not available in the data, so direct outreach to the school for specifics on enrichment, intervention tiers, and after-school resources would fill meaningful gaps before a family makes a decision.
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