Lamar El, Midland TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Lamar El

Lamar Elementary is a small charter school serving children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Midland. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is modest and relatively stable across the grade bands, with roughly even distribution from pre-K through the upper elementary grades.

The school sits within Midland ISD's broader context of significant recent change. In 2023, district voters approved a major bond that will reshape school facilities and grade configurations starting in 2028. The district has also shifted to a phonics-based science-of-reading curriculum in recent years, replacing prior whole-language instruction. These changes affect all schools in the district, including charter schools.

Academic performance at Lamar reflects areas of real concern. In mathematics, proficiency rates across tested grades are low, ranging from roughly one-quarter of third graders meeting standard at the lowest end to about a third of fourth graders at the highest. In English language arts, performance is similarly modest, with most grades showing proficiency rates in the low-to-mid range; sixth grade shows somewhat higher performance. Science proficiency is particularly weak. When looking across all tested subjects and grade levels together, the school's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile among districts serving Midland County.

The school does show some variation by grade and subject that may reflect different instructional approaches or student populations at different levels. Sixth-grade performance in English language arts, for example, is noticeably stronger than in the grades below it. However, given that most proficiency rates across all subjects fall well below the midpoint for the county, a parent may want to look into further what reading and math instruction looks like at the school and what support systems exist for students who are below grade level.

Lamar is located at Kessler Avenue in Midland, a city shaped by its energy economy and positioned at the center of the Permian Basin. Midland is a prosperous, growing place with per-capita income among the highest in the nation, though the city is car-dependent and walkable only in its downtown core. Housing costs are moderate relative to income, and the community has strong civic anchors including parks, the public library, and new downtown mixed-use development. The school is a regular public charter school, meaning it operates with some autonomy within the district while serving families in the surrounding neighborhood.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 41% · ▼ 29 pts below district

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

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 50% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 43% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 43% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 46% · ▼ 28 pts below district

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

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 40% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 31% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 51% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 27% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

This schoolMIDLAND 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 3Lower-income20%Higher-income6%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income20%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income38%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income33%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income12%Higher-income13%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income36%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income31%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income15%14 pp gap