Summary
Cleveland High School in Cleveland, TX, is a large public high school serving 3,627 students in grades 9-12, located within the Cleveland Independent School District (Isd), which ranks in the bottom 4% of Texas districts. The school faces significant challenges, with over 90% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage. Academic performance on STAAR EOC tests is well below state averages—for example, only 19.59% of students are proficient in Algebra I compared to the state average of 54.03%, and English I Reading proficiency is 31.3% versus 55.43% statewide. This performance gap of 20-35 percentage points across subjects is the school's most defining characteristic.
Compared to nearby schools, Cleveland High School stands out for its large size and high poverty rate. It is nearly twice as large as Porter High School (2,094 students) and New Caney High School (2,226 students). Its free/reduced lunch rate of 90.57% is among the highest in the region, far exceeding schools like Splendora High School (35.58%) and Tarkington High School (49.08%). A striking contrast is Goodrich High School, just 20 miles away, which has an even higher poverty rate (98.51%) but achieves proficiency rates two to three times higher—such as 70% in Algebra I versus Cleveland's 19.59%—likely due to its much smaller size (67 students) and lower student-teacher ratio.
The school also struggles with student retention, as its dropout rate has risen from 0.2% in 2020-2021 to 2.7% in 2023-2024, the highest among nearby schools, while its graduation rate has declined to 88.4%. Per-student spending of $10,448 is on the lower end compared to higher-performing peers like Goodrich ($16,348) and Coldspring-Oakhurst High School ($14,696), suggesting the school may be under-resourced for its large, high-needs population. Notably, while most student subgroups rank in the bottom 10-20% of the state, Special Education students show relative strength (29th percentile), but Gifted and Talented students rank in the bottom 4-7%, indicating a need to better challenge high-achieving learners.
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