Summary
Plummer Elementary is a PK-5 public school in the Cedar Hill Independent School District (Isd), serving 347 students in a high-poverty area where over 83% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school has historically ranked in the bottom 15-20% of Texas elementary schools, currently sitting at the 15th percentile statewide, which is slightly above its recent low but still significantly below the state average. While this performance is low, it is generally in line with its immediate district peers like High Pointe Elementary, Lakeridge Elementary, and Waterford Oaks Elementary, which all rank in the 4th-5th percentile. The stark exception is Cedar Hill Collegiate Prep, a magnet school within the same district that ranks in the 85th percentile and serves a much lower-poverty population, highlighting a two-tiered system within the district.
A notable bright spot is Plummer’s 4th-grade reading proficiency, which at 43.1% outperformed the district average of 37.08% in the most recent school year, suggesting a potential strength in reading instruction at that grade level. However, the school faces a severe and worsening gender gap: male students ranked in the 7th percentile statewide, a catastrophic drop from the 19th percentile the year prior, while female students ranked in the 34th percentile. This 27-percentile-point gap is the largest disparity among any subgroup and requires urgent attention. On a positive note, Hispanic students have shown a remarkable turnaround, jumping from the 9th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 57th percentile in the following two years, indicating that recent instructional strategies may be particularly effective for this group.
Science remains a critical weakness, with only 16.95% of 5th graders proficient compared to 22.01% in the district and 29.57% statewide, a consistent trend over recent years. The contrast with Dolores McClatchey Elementary in Midlothian Independent School District (Isd), located just 3.74 miles away, is stark: McClatchey serves a much more affluent population and achieves top-tier results, such as 76.58% proficiency in 5th-grade math compared to Plummer’s 23.91%. This highlights the powerful correlation between socioeconomic status and academic outcomes in the region. Overall, Plummer’s most critical internal issue is the underperformance of male students, while the improvement in Hispanic students and strength in 4th-grade reading offer proof that positive change is possible.
Thank you for your feedback!