Palmer El, Palmer TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Palmer El

Palmer Elementary is a small public school serving prekindergarten through fourth grade in the town of Palmer, a growing residential suburb roughly south of Dallas in Ellis County. The enrollment is small for the grade band, with a fairly even distribution across early grades and a student body that is roughly evenly split between Hispanic and white students, with a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school's academic performance reflects mixed results on Texas state assessments. In third and fourth grade math, about three-fifths of third-graders and roughly half of fourth-graders demonstrate proficiency, indicating that a meaningful share of students are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks in that subject. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency sits at about three-fifths, while fourth-grade performance is somewhat stronger at roughly two-thirds. Across both subjects, the school shows that a large majority of students are at least approaching the standards, but the gap between approaching and meeting proficiency widens in fourth grade, particularly in math. When aggregated across subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the districts in Ellis County, a notable position that reflects stronger performance relative to peer districts in the county.

The school sits in a town that reads as a quiet, car-dependent bedroom community with a historic Main Street and family-oriented residential character. Palmer has seen recent population growth tied to Dallas-Fort Worth metro expansion, and housing values and affordability remain moderate relative to the broader region. Residents are typically long-distance commuters, and daily life depends entirely on driving. The town has modest civic anchors including a city park and a small community library, with no public transit.

State assessment data for the elementary grades are the primary academic measures available. The school does not report special-population counts (special education or English learner enrollment) in the data examined, so a parent may want to reach out to the school directly about support services and how diverse learner needs are addressed. No information was available on staffing, discipline, attendance, or recent district-level initiatives, so perspective on school climate, resources, and instructional direction would benefit from direct conversation with school leadership. Palmer ISD as a district is quite small, serving the town's students entirely, which typically means limited program diversity and a tighter connection between the school and the broader community.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 60%

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

This schoolPALMER 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-income48%Higher-income70%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income74%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income43%Higher-income77%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income65%22 pp gap