Riverside Middle, Fort Worth TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Riverside Middle

Riverside Middle is a Fort Worth ISD campus serving grades six through eight with an enrollment of roughly mid-sized proportions for a middle school. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, and a very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need across the enrollment.

State testing data for 2024–2025 shows academic performance well below the midpoint among Tarrant County's school districts. In English Language Arts, sixth graders show the strongest results, with about four in ten reaching proficiency, while seventh and eighth grade proficiency rates fall further. Mathematics performance is particularly low across all grade levels, with only a small minority of students reaching proficiency; eighth grade performs better than the lower grades, but still well below expectations for mastery. Science and social studies proficiency at eighth grade are similarly weak. Across all subjects combined, only a small fraction of students reach mastery level, while somewhat over half reach the "approaches" benchmark—the lowest performance tier on the state scale. The data suggests substantial gaps in academic preparation, especially in mathematics, where students are struggling to meet grade-level expectations.

English Language Arts is the school's most developed subject relative to the others, with reading and writing proficiency measurably higher than math. Students show greater progress toward the standards in ELA by eighth grade compared to their peers' mathematical development. The spread in proficiency rates across subjects and grades points to uneven skill development, with younger students and math learners facing steeper climbs.

Fort Worth itself is one of the nation's fastest-growing large cities, adding residents at a pace that has pushed it into the ranks of America's ten largest metropolitan areas. Growth has driven substantial housing construction, particularly on the city's edges, and has shifted what was historically an affordable rental and ownership market. The area around Riverside's address in the 76111 zip code shows home values with modest recent decline, while rental costs have been relatively stable. As a city, Fort Worth combines a Western heritage identity centered on historic districts like the Stockyards with modern urban centers, a strong economy anchored in aerospace, defense, aviation, and health care, and active civic life around museums, trails, and public transit.

For a parent considering Riverside Middle, the core question is whether this school's current academic profile and the support systems in place fit your family's needs and your child's preparation level. The state testing results indicate students are arriving with significant gaps, particularly in math, and the school's current proficiency rates suggest the gaps are not closing quickly across middle school. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about its math intervention programs, whether students receive small-group instruction, and what tutoring or after-school support is available. The student demographics and economic context are consistent with a high-poverty, Spanish-dominant enrollment, which is typical of many Fort Worth ISD schools in central and inner-city areas. If your child is reading and writing at or above grade level, ELA instruction may offer more familiar footing. If your child enters below grade level in any subject, you will want to understand the depth of remediation available and how long the school expects catch-up to take.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 67%

School 7% · District 17% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 72%

School 2% · District 5% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 31% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 38% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 35% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 26% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Science

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 23% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 14% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

This schoolFORT WORTH 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 6Lower-income40%Higher-income46%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income47%19 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income31%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income8%Higher-income0%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income2%Higher-income0%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income22%Higher-income15%7 pp gap