Murchison El, Murchison TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Murchison El

Murchison El sits at the center of Murchison ISD, a small rural district in Henderson County, East Texas. The school serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, making it the single school in the district and the entire academic path for local children from early childhood through the end of middle school. Enrollment is small, consistent with a very small rural community where the population has remained roughly flat and no major housing growth has been identified.

The setting itself is distinctly rural. Murchison is a low-density town with a modest local business base and a workforce that is split between private employment and government work. No specific major employers were identified in the area. The older housing stock and limited commercial activity reflect a community where life is largely residential and agricultural in character. Home values in the area sit well below the Texas state average, and the local price-to-income ratio is relatively accessible by national standards, which may appeal to families seeking rural affordability.

The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic share and small representations of other groups. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic conditions of the broader community. IEP and English learner population data were not available in what was provided.

On the STAAR assessments, which Texas uses to measure grade-level performance, results are mixed across subjects and grades. In reading and language arts, proficiency rates across the tested grades range from moderate to solid, with several grades reaching at or above half of students scoring at the meets-grade-level standard. Math results vary more noticeably by grade: the younger elementary grades and eighth grade show stronger proficiency, while the sixth and seventh grade math results are lower. Science proficiency is below half at both tested grade levels, and the single social studies result, from eighth grade, is similarly on the lower side. The share of students reaching the highest performance tier, masters grade level, is modest across all subjects. A parent wanting to understand how individual grade cohorts are progressing, or what the school is doing to address the weaker spots in sixth and seventh grade math and in science, would do well to ask those questions directly. Only one year of data is available for trend comparison, so it is not yet possible to characterize whether results are improving or declining.

Relative to the other districts in Henderson County, Murchison El's overall proficiency index lands just above the midpoint among the eight districts in that comparison set. That is a meaningful reference point for a small, economically challenged rural school, though it does not make the academic picture uniformly strong.

Because the school stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report here, and no AP or dual-credit programming would be expected at this grade band. A graduation rate is not applicable. Families should be aware that students will need to transition to a high school outside this district for ninth grade, and planning for that transition is worth raising early with the school.

Publicly reported accountability information indicates Murchison ISD received a C rating from the Texas Education Agency for the current accountability cycle. The district brief search found no bond referenda, curriculum overhaul, or other major policy changes of lasting parent relevance in the recent period, beyond routine enrollment and transfer windows.

For a family drawn to a small, tight-knit rural school where a child will spend all their K-8 years in one building and one community, Murchison El offers that continuity. The academic results warrant close attention, particularly in the upper elementary and middle school math and science grades, and families with students in those grades may want to have specific conversations about support structures and instructional approach.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 20 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 37%

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 43%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 54%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

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

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 31%

▲ 7 pts above state median

This schoolMURCHISON 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-income37%Higher-income38%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income60%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income67%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income53%Higher-income50%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income60%16 pp gap

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