The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 8% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Ralls El
Ralls Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in a small rural community on the Texas high plains. The school enrolls a few hundred students, with a substantial majority qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller white population and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds.
The academic picture is a significant area of concern. State testing data from the most recent year shows proficiency rates well below what would be expected. In math, fewer than one in seven third graders, and even smaller fractions of fourth and fifth graders, met the state's proficiency standard. Writing that differently: across the three tested grades in math, the school reached proficiency with only a small handful of students. Reading and language arts performance was somewhat better but still modest, with fourth grade showing the highest proficiency rate at about a third of students, while third and fifth grades hovered near or below a quarter. Science proficiency in fifth grade was similarly low, reaching only one in ten students. When looking across all subjects and grades together, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among the three public school districts in Crosby County.
The school does report students meeting the lowest performance level, "approaches," at higher rates than the proficiency thresholds, suggesting that many students are making progress but have not yet closed the gap to grade-level standard. The data reflects one year only; longer-term trends were not available, so whether these results represent a stable pattern or a recent shift cannot be determined from the information provided.
The community itself is small and rural, with a population that has been gradually declining over recent years. Housing is very affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. Most families in the school's attendance area have modest incomes, and economic conditions are tight for many households.
Ralls Elementary is a regular public school serving a rural elementary population. A parent may want to look into further with the school what academic supports, interventions, and literacy or numeracy programs are in place, and what the school's own priorities and plans are for improving proficiency, especially in mathematics. Understanding the school's approach to identifying and helping students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards would be important context for any family considering enrollment.
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