Summary:
Middle Schools in zip code 76033 (Cleburne, TX) consist of two schools within the Cleburne Independent School District (Isd) that form a unique feeder pattern: Lowell Smith Junior Intermediate serves grades 5-6, while Ad Wheat Middle serves grades 7-8, allowing for a longitudinal view of student progress in a community where roughly 70-75% of students are economically disadvantaged.
The most striking contrast between the two schools is in math performance. Ad Wheat Middle boasts an elite 88.14% proficiency rate in Algebra I for 8th graders, far exceeding the state average of 54.03%, but this likely reflects a small group of accelerated students. Meanwhile, the broader student body struggles significantly: only 13.35% of 7th graders are proficient in math, and 8th-grade social studies proficiency sits at just 20.93%. This creates a "math cliff" where proficiency drops from 30.91% in 5th grade at Lowell Smith Junior Intermediate to 13.35% in 7th grade at Ad Wheat, a 57% decline that suggests systemic curriculum challenges in the middle grades.
Despite spending $1,390 more per student ($11,129 vs. $9,739), Ad Wheat Middle has a higher student-teacher ratio (14.3 vs. 13.1) and generally lower core subject proficiency than Lowell Smith Junior Intermediate. A bright spot is Lowell Smith's bilingual program, where Spanish-language STAAR test-takers in 5th grade reading scored 40%, outperforming the state average for Spanish tests (34.82%). The data also reveals lingering pandemic effects, with the cohort that was in 5th grade during 2021-2022 showing persistent math struggles, highlighting the need for targeted intervention in foundational skills across both schools.
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