Barrick El, Houston TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Barrick El

Barrick Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in northeast Houston, in an area where the majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic. The school is part of Houston ISD, which is currently under state-appointed management following a takeover by the Texas Education Agency in 2023.

Academic performance at Barrick is well below typical grade-level standards across subjects and grades. In English language arts, fourth-grade proficiency sits around the midpoint, while third-grade Spanish-language assessment shows minimal proficiency. Math results are more scattered: third-grade proficiency is low, while fourth- and fifth-grade performance in Spanish-language math assessment is very low, with fifth-grade Spanish science showing no students at proficiency. When looking across all test results in aggregate, the school's proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among Harris County districts. A parent may want to look closely with the school at what support structures exist for student growth in these foundational years.

The school operates under Houston ISD's New Education System (NES), a district-wide instructional model introduced during the state takeover. NES schools use standardized, district-mandated curricula with daily timed quizzes, longer school days, scripted lessons, and closer oversight of classroom instruction. This represents a significant pedagogical shift from traditional elementary practice. NES schools receive substantially more per-student funding than other Houston ISD campuses to support this model. At the same time, the state takeover has extended through at least June 2027, meaning there is no elected local school board; governance is entirely through state-appointed leadership.

Houston is one of the fastest-growing U.S. metro areas, and the broader city offers strong civic infrastructure: Hermann Park, Buffalo Bayou Park, an extensive library system, and METRORail light rail. The housing market in the area shows recent modest decline in values, with rents around market. The city itself is car-dependent but has created pockets of walkability around downtown, the Museum District, and Midtown.

For families considering Barrick, the profile is straightforward: this is a high-poverty elementary school in a large urban district undergoing major structural change, serving a neighborhood where nearly all students qualify for assistance. The academic trajectory is presently weak. The NES model represents an intensive, standardized instructional approach that differs materially from schools outside the system. Families should discuss directly with the school what additional academic supports are in place, how the school engages families in student progress, and what the experience of the longer school day looks like in practice.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 47% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 46% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 26% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 35%

School 5% · District 23% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 52% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 26% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 3% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

This schoolHOUSTON 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.