Key Middle, Houston TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Key Middle

Key Middle is a public middle school in Houston serving grades six through eight, located in a neighborhood on the near east side. The school educates a student body that is roughly balanced between Black and Hispanic enrollment, with nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. This economic profile and demographic composition are consistent with schools serving lower-income urban neighborhoods in Houston.

On state assessments, Key Middle shows uneven results across subjects. In English language arts, proficiency hovers in the low-to-mid range across all three grades, with seventh grade performing slightly better than sixth and eighth. Math proficiency is considerably lower, running consistently at about one-third of students meeting the state's proficiency standard across all three grades. Science proficiency in eighth grade is substantially weaker, and social studies proficiency in eighth grade is particularly low. A parent may want to look into further what the school is doing to strengthen science and social studies instruction, especially given how steeply performance drops in those subjects.

Taken as a whole, the school's proficiency index places it below the midpoint relative to other districts in Harris County. The data shows a gap worth understanding: writing and reading tend to outpace math, which outpaces science, and science significantly outpaces social studies. This pattern suggests the school may benefit from targeted support in quantitative and social studies content.

The school is part of Houston ISD, a district undergoing significant transformation. In June 2023 the Texas Education Agency took over the district, replacing the elected school board with state-appointed managers and a new superintendent. That takeover has been extended through at least June 2027. The district has introduced a standardized instructional model called the New Education System at a growing number of campuses, characterized by prescribed lesson plans, daily timed quizzes, longer school days, and tighter oversight. Whether Key Middle operates under this model is not specified in the available data; a parent would want to ask the school directly about its instructional approach.

The district has also experienced rapid enrollment decline during the takeover period, losing a substantial number of students between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 school years, and in February 2026 the board of managers voted to close or consolidate a number of campuses. Key Middle is not named in that closure list, but the broader context of district contraction and governance change is something families moving to the area should understand.

Housing in the 77026 zip code, where Key Middle is located, is relatively affordable by metro standards, with median home values in the low range and monthly rents modest. The immediate neighborhood is accessible by vehicle and bus transit through the METRO system, though Houston overall is car-dependent. The broader Houston economy is anchored by energy, healthcare, aerospace, and logistics, offering employment diversity.

For a family considering this school, the key questions are whether the current instructional model and standardized curriculum fit your approach to learning, whether the performance profile in math and particularly in science and social studies suggests the academic support your child needs, and whether the district's transition from state oversight back to elected governance is something you want to monitor closely.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 39% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 35% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 43% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 51% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 50% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 53% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 42% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 25% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 13 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income38%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income38%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income42%Higher-income40%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income23%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income32%Higher-income25%7 pp gap