Barbara Jordan El, Odessa TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Barbara Jordan El

Barbara Jordan Elementary sits in Odessa, a West Texas city driven by oil and gas, cattle ranching, and deep high school football culture. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade and draws from a neighborhood that is predominantly Latino, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Housing in the area is moderately priced, neither particularly expensive nor particularly cheap, and the Odessa economy remains tied tightly to energy markets.

The school's academic standing reflects real challenges. State testing data from the most recent year shows proficiency rates well below what most schools achieve. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from low in third and fourth grades to moderate in fifth grade. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: third grade is very weak, fourth grade improves some, and fifth grade reaches its highest point. Science proficiency is quite low. The school tested a substantial share of students in Spanish-language assessments, indicating a significant Spanish-speaking population, and those students' performance was particularly strained. When looking at all tested subjects together across all grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other district schools in Ector County. That gap is substantial and a parent may want to look into this further with the school: what support structures exist for struggling students, whether there are interventions in place, and what trajectory the school is on.

The school's enrollment is stable at a typical size for an elementary school in its grade band. The student body is predominantly Latino, with a meaningful white population and small numbers of students from other backgrounds. About three in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic challenge in the area. The school does not sit in one of Odessa's newest growth corridors, though the city is expanding northward and eastward with new master-planned neighborhoods and housing development.

Ector County ISD, the parent district, has been in transition. Voters approved a major bond measure in 2023 that is funding a new Career and Technical Education Center, a new middle school in west Odessa, and districtwide repairs and facility improvements without raising the property tax rate. The district also lowered its total tax rate slightly for the 2025-26 school year, which matters for families weighing housing and district costs. One notable shift: a middle school that had been run by a charter network returned to direct district operation in 2024, changing the instructional model after years under outside management. These moves suggest a district managing transitions and growth, though the academic outcomes at Barbara Jordan suggest that systemwide support for elementary proficiency remains uneven.

For a family considering this school, the basic reality is that current test results are weak and warrant direct conversation with the school about what is being done to improve them. The student body is predominantly Latino and economically challenged, which shapes the peer environment and the school's priorities. The school is neither cutting-edge nor in a newly developed area, but it is part of a district that is investing in facilities and attempting to stabilize its instructional model. Whether Barbara Jordan is the right fit depends on what support a family's child needs and what the school can realistically offer.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 324%

School 24% · District 22% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 42% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 37% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 18% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 43% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 45% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 19% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolECTOR COUNTY 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 3Lower-income6%Higher-income46%40 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income49%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income100%62 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income66%Higher-income83%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income31%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income51%Higher-income74%23 pp gap