Dalhart Intermediate

Dalhart Intermediate serves 430 students in grades 3 through 5 in the rural Dalhart Independent School District (Isd), where about 73% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high-poverty community.

This school shows a striking split between subjects: math is a clear strength, with 5th graders scoring above the state average in recent years, while reading proficiency remains alarmingly low, hovering between 23% and 38% compared to a state average of 51-58%. This suggests that literacy instruction needs focused attention. On a positive note, the school has reduced its student-teacher ratio from a high of 20.7:1 to 16.5:1, now matching Dalhart Elementary (16.3:1), and spends more per student ($9,580) than the elementary school ($8,691). However, performance has been volatile, with the school ranking in the bottom 14% of Texas elementary schools recently, a drop from a brief improvement to the 39th percentile a few years ago.

Two areas stand out for concern. First, the school’s performance with English Language Learners has fallen sharply, ranking in the 2nd percentile statewide, which is a major factor in the overall low scores. Second, support for special education students is inconsistent, swinging from a strong 61st percentile to a weak 27th percentile in just two years. A bright spot is the "5th grade bounce" in math, where proficiency often jumps dramatically from 4th to 5th grade—a pattern worth studying to see if it can be replicated in reading and earlier grades.