Waskom Middle

Waskom Middle in Waskom, TX, serves 179 students in grades 6-8 within the Waskom Independent School District (Isd), a small district in a rural area where nearly 70% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Waskom Middle is facing significant academic challenges, particularly in mathematics, where proficiency rates are roughly half the state average. For example, only 11.9% of 7th graders were proficient in math, compared to 36.07% at nearby Elysian Fields Middle. While the school shows a bright spot in Algebra I—with 70.59% of test-takers proficient, far exceeding the state average—this success does not extend to most students. Reading scores are mixed, generally below the state average but competitive with Marshall J H, though consistently outperformed by Elysian Fields. Notably, the school spends more per student ($13,002) than its higher-performing neighbor Elysian Fields ($11,924), yet achieves lower results, suggesting issues with instructional effectiveness or resource allocation.

Despite these struggles, Waskom Middle has maintained a near-zero dropout rate for five years, indicating it keeps students engaged. However, the school's ability to support vulnerable groups has collapsed: special education students dropped from the 50th to the 8th percentile in state rankings, and English Language Learners remain in the bottom 10%. Small class sizes (10.5:1 student-to-teacher ratio) have not translated into academic success. The school requires a fundamental re-evaluation of its instructional strategies to reverse its downward trend.