Summary
Price T Young Elementary in Marshall, TX, serves 550 students in grades K-5 within the Marshall Independent School District (Isd), and it has faced significant academic challenges for over a decade, consistently ranking in the bottom 3% of Texas elementary schools. The school serves a highly disadvantaged population, with over 93% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, a rate much higher than many surrounding schools. Despite per-student spending that is above the district average, academic proficiency rates are alarmingly low—for example, only 17.5% of 4th graders were proficient in reading in 2025-2026, compared to the state average of 53.04%.
What makes this school stand out is the stark contrast with nearby schools in the same district. Just 2.69 miles away, Sam Houston Elementary is a 5-star school (94th percentile) with proficiency rates often exceeding 70%, while Price T Young is a 0-star school (1st percentile). Similarly, Wm B Travis Elementary, which also has a high poverty rate (87.74% free/reduced lunch), achieves proficiency rates that are often double or triple those of Price T Young—for instance, 69.84% of 5th graders were proficient in math in 2024-2025, compared to just 19.51% at Price T Young. This suggests that concentrated poverty is a powerful, compounding factor that the school is currently unable to overcome, even with similar resources.
There are a few notable bright spots. The school’s Special Education program has shown improvement, rising to the 34th percentile (2 stars) in 2024-2025, the highest ranking for any subgroup in recent years. Additionally, in 2024-2025, Price T Young outperformed the district average in Spanish-language Math tests for 4th grade (25% vs. 16%), indicating that bilingual support may be a relative strength. However, the school’s Gifted and Talented program has declined sharply, dropping to the 3rd percentile (0 stars) in 2025-2026, and overall performance has remained flat for a decade, with no sustained upward trend. For parents, this school faces deep-rooted challenges, but targeted interventions in special education and bilingual programs offer potential areas for growth.
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