The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 48% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Durham El
Durham Elementary serves grades pre-K through fifth grade in a Houston neighborhood setting, enrolling about a mid-size elementary population with a composition that is majority Hispanic and roughly a quarter white, alongside Black, Asian, and multiracial students. About two-thirds of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a working-class community profile.
State testing results from spring 2025 show mixed performance across grades and subjects. In math, third grade reached the midpoint for proficiency, fourth grade slightly fell short of midpoint, and fifth grade—the school's lowest area—showed proficiency well below midpoint. Reading results are somewhat stronger: fourth grade came in at midpoint to slightly above, while third-grade Spanish-language reading showed markedly lower results. Fifth-grade results in reading and science were suppressed due to very small tested cohorts, making those numbers less reliable. The trend data available shows that across all tested subjects the school's overall achievement sits above the midpoint compared to other districts in Harris County, though the raw proficiency numbers themselves are modest, meaning the school is performing better than some of its neighbors while still facing real gaps in student attainment, especially as students advance through elementary grades.
The school sits within Houston ISD, a district that has undergone substantial restructuring since a state takeover in 2023. The district is now governed by state-appointed leadership, with return to elected local board control dependent on meeting state performance criteria. The state has implemented a New Education System model at many campuses with standardized curricula, timed daily quizzes, longer school days, and scripted lessons. Changes to libraries have also shifted school facilities at some reformed campuses. In November 2024 the district's bond for facility improvements and technology was rejected by voters, leaving aging infrastructure challenges unaddressed. Between 2022 and 2025 the district lost a substantial number of students to enrollment decline, and in February 2026 the board voted to close or consolidate twelve campuses after the current school year. A parent considering Durham should understand that the school operates within this context of active district restructuring, with unknown implications for how long existing programs and staffing patterns will remain stable.
What we cannot tell from available data: The school's website was not provided, so there is no information about specific programs, staff, community partnerships, or how the school characterizes itself. Discipline data, attendance, and special education and English-learner enrollment rates were not available. The school did not report a graduation rate, as it serves only elementary grades and no such metric applies. No comparison to non-HISD schools is possible with the data at hand, so it is unclear how Durham sits against independent schools or charters in the neighborhood.
The school's modest proficiency numbers, combined with accelerating performance declines by grade level in math, suggest a parent may want to discuss directly with the school what supports exist for students in the upper elementary grades, what reading and math interventions are in place, and what the school sees as its strongest and weakest areas. The broader district turbulence—the takeover, the model changes, the enrollment losses, the upcoming closures—is also worth asking about in person: families benefit from understanding whether the school is one of the stabilized or restructured campuses, and what the school's enrollment trajectory looks like relative to the district trend.
See more original research from School Decision →