Idea Travis Academy, Midland TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Idea Travis Academy

IDEA Travis Academy is a charter school serving pre-kindergarten through ninth grade in Midland, with an enrollment of roughly twelve hundred students. The school sits within Midland Independent School District, which spans the city and surrounding areas.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial majority qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school draws families across the grade span and is large enough to maintain separate grade-level configurations from pre-K through early high school.

On state assessments, IDEA Travis Academy's performance is weaker than comparable schools in the county. Reading proficiency sits in the lower band across elementary and middle grades, with fewer than half of tested students scoring at proficient levels in English language arts, except in seventh grade where the rate is closer to half. In third grade, reading proficiency is at its lowest point, and gains through the early grades are modest. Math results are similar, ranging from roughly one in three students meeting proficiency in third grade up to higher rates in sixth and seventh grade, though sixth-grade proficiency dips notably lower. Science proficiency in fifth grade falls below the reading and math rates. Social studies performance in eighth grade is notably low. When compared against other districts in Midland County on an overall proficiency index, IDEA Travis Academy falls in the bottom quartile.

One data gap worth noting: the school does not report rates for English learners or students with individualized education plans, so a parent may want to ask directly about how the school identifies and supports these populations. No high school graduation rate appears because the school serves only through ninth grade; tenth through twelfth grade data would come from high schools where ninth-graders transition.

The school is situated in an oil-and-gas-centered West Texas economy where energy dominates employment and local wealth. Midland as a city is growing and prosperous, with strong housing values and relatively lower unemployment. A major district bond passed in 2023—the first to win voter approval after five consecutive rejections—now funds two new comprehensive high schools and facility upgrades. This will trigger grade reconfiguration beginning in 2028, shifting where sixth and ninth graders attend school across the district. Around the same time the bond passed, Midland ISD also shifted its reading instruction from whole-language to phonics-based, science-of-reading methods using Amplify Texas as the main curriculum. These are substantial shifts that will reshape the student experience over the next several years.

For a family considering IDEA Travis Academy, the key question is whether the school's current academic performance aligns with a child's readiness and learning needs. The proficiency rates show that fewer than half of students are testing at grade level in the core subjects, which means students below proficient may need robust supplemental support. The school's phonics adoption is a move aligned with recent research, but parents would benefit from understanding how well that new model is taking hold and what classroom and home support looks like. The housing and economic context in Midland is stable and growing, and the bond-funded facilities expansion signals district investment, though the coming grade shifts will require families to prepare for transitions starting in 2028.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 41% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 50% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 43% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 617%

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

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

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 13% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 46% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 40% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 31% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 51% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 42% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 45% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 27% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 17% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 7 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-income34%Higher-income41%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income48%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income35%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income40%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income57%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income53%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income38%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income56%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income35%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income16%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income32%Higher-income39%7 pp gap