McCamey High School

McCamey High School is a small, rural high school in McCamey, Texas, serving 144 students in grades 9-12 as part of the McCamey Independent School District (Isd).

While the school benefits from a very favorable student-to-teacher ratio of about 9.6 to 1 and spends over $18,000 per student annually—well above the state average—these resources are not translating into strong academic results. The school consistently scores well below state averages on STAAR End-of-Course exams, with proficiency rates in Algebra I (29.4%), English I Reading (23.5%), and Biology (38.5%) all significantly trailing the state. The graduation rate has also declined from a perfect 100% in recent years to 87.5%, while the dropout rate has risen to 2.7%. A particularly striking finding is the extreme disparity in how the school serves its students: it has historically performed very well for its Gifted and Talented students but now ranks in the bottom 7% of the state for its Low Socio-Economic Status students, indicating a major gap in educational equity.

One of the most interesting takeaways is the apparent disconnect between the strong performance of 8th graders in the feeder middle school—where 100% were proficient in Reading in a recent year—and the weak outcomes once those students enter the high school. This suggests the high school's instructional model may be the primary area needing reform. The school's U.S. History scores are also highly erratic, swinging by 41 percentage points from one year to the next, pointing to a lack of consistent instruction. Overall, McCamey High School is a well-funded school that is failing to meet the academic needs of most of its students, and its high spending and low student-teacher ratio represent a significant missed opportunity for improvement.