Summary:
The nine elementary schools in the Duncanville Independent School District (Isd), serving grades PK through 4, operate in a community with high economic need, as over 70% of students at every school qualify for free or reduced lunch. The district as a whole ranks in the 9th percentile statewide, but individual schools show very different performance levels and trends.
William Lee Hastings Elementary is the clear top performer, ranking in the 36th percentile—far above any other school in the district—and is the only one to achieve over 50% proficiency in multiple subjects. This is notable because it also has the largest class sizes (17.7:1). The most dramatic improvement belongs to S Gus Alexander Junior Elementary, which jumped from the 1st to the 18th percentile in just two years and posted the district's highest single-grade reading score (53.13% in 3rd Grade Reading). In contrast, Merrifield Elementary has been a consistent underperformer, never reaching a 2-star rating and recording the lowest 5th Grade Reading (27.27%) and Math (18.99%) scores in the district.
A key takeaway is that spending does not predict success: S Gus Alexander Junior Elementary has the highest per-student spending ($12,871) and improved, but Merrifield Elementary has the second-lowest spending ($10,912) and struggles. Another interesting finding is that several schools, like Fairmeadows Elementary, show much higher proficiency on the Spanish version of the STAAR Reading test than the English version, suggesting that English scores may reflect language acquisition rather than a lack of reading comprehension. Across all schools, math proficiency is consistently lower than reading, pointing to a district-wide need for stronger math instruction.
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