Idalou Independent School District (Isd)

The Idalou Independent School District (ISD) is a small, unified district in Idalou, Texas, serving approximately 995 students across three schools: Idalou Elementary (PK-4), Idalou Middle (5-8), and Idalou High School (9-12). The district is highly ranked, placing in the 92nd percentile among Texas school districts with a 5-star rating.

Idalou High School is the district's academic powerhouse, earning a 5-star rating and ranking in the 92nd percentile for high schools statewide. It boasts a 98.4% graduation rate and a 0.0% dropout rate, and it significantly outperforms state averages on every End-of-Course exam, particularly in U.S. History (93.42% proficient) and Algebra I (85.71% proficient). Idalou Elementary provides a strong foundation with a 4-star rating, showing notable growth in 4th Grade Mathematics, where proficiency jumped nearly 10 percentage points to 70.51%. In contrast, Idalou Middle is the district's primary area for opportunity, holding a 4-star rating but with a lower ranking (78th percentile) and a critical weakness in 7th Grade Mathematics, where only 23.88% of students were proficient, below the state average.

A key finding is the "middle school math cliff," where math proficiency drops dramatically from 43.08% in 6th grade to 23.88% in 7th grade, a stark contrast to the high school's strong Algebra I scores. However, 8th-grade math is an extraordinary outlier, with proficiency rates near 86%, suggesting a highly effective teacher or curriculum. Reading proficiency is a consistent district-wide strength, with every test score exceeding state averages. Additionally, per-student spending varies significantly, with the high school receiving $13,741 per student (the highest) while serving the lowest percentage of economically disadvantaged students (22.22%), compared to the elementary school's $9,324 per student with the highest economic disadvantage rate (35.68%).