G E 'buddy' West El, Odessa TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on G E 'buddy' West El

G E 'Buddy' West Elementary is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school in Odessa that serves an economically vulnerable population with proficiency levels notably below the county average across tested subjects.

The school enrolls a full elementary cohort distributed fairly evenly across grades, with the student body predominantly Hispanic and a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school operates as a regular public elementary within Ector County ISD.

On state assessments, West Elementary's results show a consistent pattern of challenge. In reading and language arts, proficiency rates range from the low to mid-range across grades three through five. In math, performance is similarly modest, with third grade showing particularly low proficiency and improvement visible in fourth and fifth grades. Fifth-grade science proficiency was notably weak. Taken together across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile when compared to other districts in Ector County.

The school's student composition reflects Odessa's broader demographics: a high concentration of Hispanic students and white students at considerably smaller numbers. Economic conditions in the school's service area run deep, with more than four-fifths of the student body qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of concentrated poverty that correlates with obstacles in student achievement and often signals families managing housing instability, food insecurity, or other resource constraints.

Ector County ISD itself is in transition. The district passed a major bond election in November 2023 that will fund a new Career and Technical Education Center, a new middle school opening in August 2026 in west Odessa, and systemwide maintenance and repairs, all without raising the tax rate. Additionally, the district lowered its overall property tax rate for the 2025-26 school year through state-mandated compression, a modest financial relief for homeowners. The district also brought Ector Middle School back into direct operation in July 2024 after several years under a charter network operator.

The city of Odessa is a West Texas energy hub at the center of the Permian Basin, with oil and gas work anchoring its economy alongside ranching heritage and strong football culture. Major employers span energy companies such as Halliburton and Weatherford, plus healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. The area is experiencing rapid growth: new master-planned residential developments such as Parks Bell Ranch are expanding housing stock in the northern and eastern parts of the city, and downtown Odessa is undergoing redevelopment with civic and library projects planned. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to state and national benchmarks.

For families considering West Elementary, a parent may want to look further into the school's specific reading and math support programs and whether additional tutoring or intervention resources are available to complement classroom instruction. The school's proficiency results suggest students are working significantly below grade-level standards in multiple subject areas, a reality that speaks to the intensity of academic need this campus serves.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 22% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 42% · ▼ 1 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 37% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 18% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 43% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 45% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 19% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 7 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-income36%Higher-income50%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income33%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income36%Higher-income33%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income45%14 pp gap