Summary
Discovery Middle is a public charter middle school in Houston, Texas, serving 249 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Southwest Public Schools district, which is ranked 858 out of 961 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Unfortunately, Discovery Middle has consistently ranked in the bottom quartile of Texas middle schools over the past several years, with a ranking between 1898 and 2175 out of around 2,300 schools.
The school's academic performance, as measured by STAAR test scores, is significantly below the state and district averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the percentage of students proficient or better in STAAR Reading ranged from 31.07% (6th grade) to 43.33% (8th grade), compared to the state averages of 54.21% (6th grade) and 56.39% (8th grade). The school's performance in STAAR Mathematics is even lower, with proficiency rates ranging from 16.5% (6th grade) to 16.92% (8th grade), compared to the state averages of 37.68% (6th grade) and 44.81% (8th grade). Additionally, Discovery Middle has experienced relatively high dropout rates in recent years, ranging from 1.5% to 4.6%, which are higher than the state average.
When comparing Discovery Middle to the nearby schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD), the performance gap is quite stark. For example, Pin Oak Middle, a HISD magnet school located just 2.57 miles away, consistently ranks in the top 5% of Texas middle schools and outperforms Discovery Middle by a wide margin on STAAR assessments. Despite the high percentage of economically disadvantaged students at Discovery Middle, the school's per-student spending is relatively high, ranging from $11,486 to $15,068 per student in recent years, suggesting that the school's challenges may not be solely due to a lack of funding or resources.
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