Edward B Cannan El, Willis TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Edward B Cannan El

Edward B. Cannan Elementary is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school in Willis, a small city in the Houston metro area that sits between small-town practicality and lakeside leisure. The school serves a student body that is substantially Hispanic and White, with a majority of students from families qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The overall enrollment is typical for an elementary school in its grade band.

In math, the school's results are mixed by grade. Third grade shows lower proficiency, while fourth grade is closer to moderate, and fifth grade falls in between. In English language arts, third grade performs better, closer to the midpoint, but fourth grade shows notably weak results, likely reflecting a very small cohort taking the Spanish-language test. Fifth grade in ELA shows results around the lower-middle range. The school reported one student taking a science assessment in fifth grade with no proficiency. The school's proficiency rates across all tested grades and subjects place it above the midpoint among Montgomery County districts on this combined measure, though the underlying grade-level picture shows significant variability and some low spots, particularly in the upper-elementary math grades and in the Spanish ELA cohort.

The data reflects only one year of results; trend information over time was not available. The school also did not report participation rates, so it is not possible to determine whether all tested students sat for the assessment or whether some were exempted.

Willis itself is experiencing rapid residential growth. The area is anchored by parks, lake recreation, and everyday errands, with a car-oriented lifestyle rather than walkable commercial corridors. Schools sit on separated campuses rather than downtown, and new subdivisions like The Woodlands Hills have brought rising enrollment pressure across the district. Willis ISD projects its enrollment will roughly double over the next several years, which means families should expect ongoing construction, attendance-boundary shifts, and capacity planning as Cannan Elementary and its peer schools navigate this growth. A new elementary school is scheduled to open in 2026, and boundary changes may affect which children attend which campus.

The district's tax rate has trended down over recent years, which can be relevant for families evaluating the overall affordability of the Willis area. Housing values in the Willis zip code sit moderately below state benchmarks and well below national benchmarks, while rents are moderate. The district adopted a new reading and language arts curriculum for 2025-26, so elementary literacy instruction and materials are shifting this year.

A parent weighing Cannan Elementary may want to look into current proficiency trends in specific grade levels, particularly in math, and to confirm whether the school has specific supports in place for early reading intervention or mathematics acceleration in the grades where results are stronger.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 19% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 48% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 5% · ▲ 32 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 9% · ▲ 49 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 12% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 50 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 32% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

This schoolWILLIS 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-income57%Higher-income62%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income67%35 pp gap