Tinsley El, Houston TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Tinsley El

Tinsley Elementary is a small primary school in Houston serving grades one through five, located in a neighborhood of predominantly Hispanic and Black families, nearly all of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is balanced across the five grade levels, with roughly equal cohorts in each year.

The school's 2024-25 state test results show pronounced challenges in foundational academics. In math, the school saw a spread across grade levels: third grade performed better, around the middle range, while fourth and fifth grades fell noticeably lower. In English language arts, results were much weaker across all grades, with only a small fraction of students meeting proficiency in third and fifth grades. Fifth-grade science performance was particularly low. When looking at the broader picture across all tested subjects and grades, Tinsley's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in Harris County. A parent may want to ask the school directly about what reading and writing interventions are in place for early grades, and what support systems exist to help students catch up in core subjects.

The strong majority of students speak Spanish as indicated by the language versions of the assessments they took, and English learner instructional needs are likely substantial, though the exact count of students in that population was not available. Grade one and two, which do not appear in state testing, would have their own classroom and learning experiences that the test data does not capture.

Tinsley is part of Houston ISD, a very large district currently under state takeover by the Texas Education Agency, with an appointed board rather than elected trustees. This governance situation extends through at least June 2027. The district has implemented a new pedagogical model called NES (New Education System) at some campuses, characterized by standardized curricula, scripted lessons, longer school days, and timed daily assessments. That shift has reshaped how instruction is delivered and staffed across much of the district, and may or may not be in effect at Tinsley depending on whether it is a designated NES campus. In November 2024 voters rejected a large bond package, so aging facility upgrades and expansions did not move forward. More recently, the district announced closures and consolidations of schools for the 2026-27 school year; a parent would want to verify whether Tinsley is among them.

The immediate neighborhood is dense, mixed-use Houston without traditional zoning, where residential blocks sit interspersed with commercial corridors. Home values in the 77096 zip code are modest for Houston, and rental costs are relatively affordable compared to the regional median. The broader Houston region is growing rapidly and ranks first in the nation for numeric population growth, though growth is shifting increasingly toward outlying suburban and exurban counties rather than the urban core.

Tinsley is small by design for its grade band and sits within a district managing significant change and constraint. For a family, the key considerations would be the school's academic trajectory and available interventions, the current status of the NES model at this particular campus, whether closure or consolidation affects it, and how Houston ISD's state takeover and instructional reforms align with their educational values.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 47% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 46% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 26% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 23% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 52% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 26% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 53%

School 3% · District 3%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 18 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 4Lower-income28%Higher-income25%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income25%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income49%Higher-income13%36 pp gap