China El, China TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on China El

China Elementary sits on Henderson Avenue in the small city of China, Texas, in northwestern Jefferson County, part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metro area. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is one of the campuses of Hardin-Jefferson ISD, a district that stretches across several communities including China, Nome, and Sour Lake. Publicly reported local history notes that the building itself was formerly the district's middle school, later converted into the elementary after a new high school opened in Sour Lake and facilities were reshuffled across the towns. The school sits in the city center, across from China's city park, which gives the campus a genuinely town-anchored feel in a place that is otherwise car-dependent and low-density in character.

China itself is a rural community whose economy has historically rested on agriculture, particularly rice farming, and on the oil and gas fields that surround the region. Most residents own their homes and commute by car, with many working in the broader Beaumont area. D.R. Horton has been developing a new-home community in town, and the housing market remains relatively affordable compared to the wider metro. The community has grown modestly in recent decades, not dramatically, but there are signs of incremental residential investment.

On state assessment results, which Texas reports through the STAAR exam, China Elementary's picture is mixed. The school's strongest area is reading and language arts, where fifth graders approach a majority reaching proficiency and third graders also land in the moderate range. Math scores are somewhat lower, with third graders performing weakest in that subject and scores climbing through the grades, reaching near-even with reading by fifth grade. Science at the fifth-grade level, the only grade where that subject is tested at this school, sits noticeably lower than reading or math, with only about three in ten students reaching proficiency. Social studies results are also on the weaker side. Across all tested subjects combined, the school's proficiency index places it below the midpoint relative to districts in Jefferson County, though not at the bottom of that group.

Texas's STAAR has three performance tiers: Approaches Grade Level, Meets Grade Level, and Masters Grade Level. Schoolwide, a solid majority of students reach the Approaches threshold in reading, and close to half do so in math, which reflects basic exposure to grade-level content. The share reaching Meets Grade Level, a more demanding bar, runs roughly in the middle for both subjects. The share reaching Masters, the highest level, is small across all subjects. Parents looking for a clear picture of how this compares to the broader state should note that data here is one year only, with no prior-year trend available to show whether results are improving or holding steady. That is a gap worth raising directly with the school.

Enrollment is moderately sized for a PK-5 campus, spread relatively evenly across grades. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a meaningful share of economically disadvantaged families. The student body is racially diverse: white students make up the plurality, followed by Black and Hispanic students, with smaller shares of Asian and multiracial students. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in the data provided.

No program offerings, staffing details, attendance figures, or chronic absenteeism data were available for this school. The district brief search did not turn up recent parent-relevant changes at Hardin-Jefferson ISD before the search was exhausted, so that portion was left out rather than filled with assumptions. Parents interested in instructional programs, staff turnover, or district priorities would want to contact the school or district directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 52% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 43% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 51% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 49% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 63% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 31% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

This schoolHARDIN-JEFFERSON 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-income40%Higher-income61%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income58%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income71%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income34%Higher-income45%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income37%Higher-income57%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income67%37 pp gap