Kountze Middle, Kountze TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Kountze Middle

Kountze Middle is a small regular public middle school serving grades six through eight in rural East Texas. The student body is diverse in composition, with a substantial majority white and meaningful shares of Black and multiracial students; a significant portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment spans roughly equal cohorts across the three grade levels.

In state testing, Kountze Middle shows below-midpoint proficiency across the county's district group. Math performance ranges from lower in sixth grade to stronger by eighth grade, with the eighth-grade class reaching about the midpoint for meeting grade-level standards. English and language arts performance sits around the midpoint across all three grades. Science proficiency in eighth grade falls in the lower-middle range, while social studies proficiency in eighth grade is notably lower. The school's overall proficiency index places it below the median for Hardin County districts.

A parent examining these numbers may want to look into the school's instructional priorities and support structures in lower-performing areas, particularly in social studies and sixth-grade mathematics. The data suggests students entering middle school face a more substantial gap to close, while eighth graders show some progress. That upward trajectory in math and the consistent performance in ELA suggest the school has some lever for growth, though the absolute numbers indicate room for improvement.

The school sits on FM 1293 outside Kountze's modest downtown, in a small East Texas county seat shaped by timber history and now characterized by single-family housing, a courthouse-square civic center, and limited commercial density. The town is car-dependent with rural character and long-standing community anchors like churches and the Big Thicket National Preserve nearby. Kountze ISD just completed a bond-funded replacement of the aging elementary school to address longstanding facility and safety concerns, a change that will reshape how young students move through the district pipeline.

The school's peer environment reflects small-town demographics and the economic conditions of rural Southeast Texas, where median household income and property values are modest and public administration, healthcare, and education are leading employment sectors. Housing stock is predominantly single-family owner-occupied homes without homeowner associations, creating a stable residential environment. This is a school for families who value small-town stability and know the school and community well, and who are prepared to support their child's learning through any instruction gap they observe.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 10 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 52%

even with state median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Science

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

▲ 3 pts above state median

This schoolKOUNTZE 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-income50%Higher-income54%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income37%Higher-income63%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income47%Higher-income52%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income36%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income54%Higher-income47%7 pp gap