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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at TARKINGTON EL this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
738
Elementary
DISTRICT 476 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TARKINGTON ISD·NCES 484221006918
Tarkington Elementary School
2770 FM 163, CLEVELAND, TX 77327 · (281) 592-6134 · Liberty County
GRADES 01–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL738 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% of Texas public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Texas public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.7:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
57%
420 students
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | 134 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 138 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 155 | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 146 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 165 | 22% |
This year's 1st grade class (134) is 19% smaller than its 5th grade class (165).
Student demographics
37%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within TARKINGTON ISD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
41.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +20.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
30.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -34.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 30 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 20 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 34 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 14.0% | 27.0% | 24.0% | 35.0% |
| Mathematics | 9.0% | 21.0% | 23.0% | 47.0% |
Share of tested students at each STAAR level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
STAAR results by year
| School year | Reading | Mathematics |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 41.0% | 30.0% |
| 2024-25 | 43.0% | 29.0% |
| 2023-24 | 38.0% | 29.0% |
| 2022-23 | 41.0% | 47.0% |
| 2021-22 | 47.0% | 53.0% |
| 2020-21 | 21.0% | 64.0% |
% Meets Grade Level or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
34.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.4%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 34% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 49% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Tarkington Elementary School
Tarkington Elementary School's state test result (34.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarkington Elementary School this school | 738 | 56.9% | 34.3% |
| Oak Forest Elementary School VIDOR | 671 | 63.0% | 38.3% |
| Quitman Elementary School QUITMAN | 580 | 60.2% | 48.6% |
| Dan J Kubacak Elementary School SANTA FE | 730 | 52.1% | 56.4% |
| North Lamar Intermediate School PARIS | 593 | 54.0% | 44.7% |
| Canton Elementary School CANTON | 569 | 52.7% | N/A |
Matched among Texas elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Tarkington Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Liberty County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.3% | #3,232 of 4,401 | #4 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.0% | #3,950 of 4,466 ▼ 90 | #8 of 17 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.0% | #3,621 of 4,466 ▼ 374 | #5 of 17 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -8.5pp | #439 of 3,998 | #1 of 12 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 738 | #702 of 4,938 | #12 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #2,182 of 4,622 | #3 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 36.5% | #3,208 of 4,628 | #11 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 56.9% | #3,275 of 4,789 | #18 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +148.5% | #6 of 1,307 | #1 of 8 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
738
+513 (+228%) vs 2020
+115% since 1990-91, when it was 343
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 12.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 738 | 50.2 | 14.7:1 | 57% (420) |
| 2023-24 | 779 | 49 | 15.9:1 | 61% (478) |
| 2022-23 | 773 | 47 | 16.4:1 | 61% (468) |
| 2020-21 | 225 | 18 | 12.5:1 | 56% (125) |
| 2017-18 | 297 | 19.1 | 15.6:1 | 36% (108) |
| 2015-16 | 273 | 18 | 15.2:1 | 50% (137) |
| 2010-11 | 269 | 19 | 14.2:1 | 51% (137) |
| 2000-01 | 424 | 24 | 17.7:1 | 31% (130) |
| 1990-91 | 343 | 22 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Tarkington Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 148% (297 to 738); teachers up 163% (19.1 to 50.2).
About Tarkington Elementary School
Tarkington Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school with its address in CLEVELAND, Texas. Grades offered run from 1 through 5, with 738 students enrolled. For comparison, elementary schools in Texas average about 519 students.
Tarkington Elementary School is one school in a 4-school district, TARKINGTON ISD, which enrolls 1,907 students.
Tarkington Elementary School is 78% White by enrollment. The rest of enrollment is 17% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. Census estimates put the White share of Liberty County's population at about 57%. The school's diversity index is 37%, meaning two students picked at random have a 37% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Its teaching staff equals 50.2 full-time positions, a ratio of 14.7:1. That matches the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas fairly closely. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 57%. That is 23 points below the 80% average for public schools in Liberty County.
Tarkington Elementary School is graded D by allk12, scoring above 9% of Texas public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
On allk12's BeatsExpectations measure, Tarkington Elementary School is among the bottom 10% of schools in Texas. Predicted: 49.4%. Actual: 34.3%.
Census Bureau estimates for Liberty County show that the median household income is $68,703, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 12% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 16%. There are 41 public schools in Liberty County, enrolling about 27,599 students in all.
Nearby, Tarkington Early Childhood School is about 0.2 miles away. There are 3 more public schools inside five miles. Nearby schools average 30.8% on proficiency, and Tarkington Elementary School is above that at 34.3%.
Tarkington Elementary School falls in the Rural: Distant locale category, used for schools in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
The 2020-21 count was 225 students and the 2024-25 count was 738. A difference that large may reflect a change in which grades the school serves. By 2024-25, the school had 14.7 students per teacher, compared with 12.5 in 2020-21.
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Liberty County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
103,380
Census ACS
Median income
$68,703
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
12%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
16%
Below federal line
Schools in county
41
27,599 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in TARKINGTON ISD
- Tarkington High SchoolHigh · 544 students
- Tarkington Middle SchoolMiddle · 411 students
- Tarkington Early Childhood SchoolElementary · 214 students
Other schools in CLEVELAND
- Cleveland High SchoolHigh · 3,627 students
- Cleveland Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,446 students
- Santa Fe Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,117 students
- Northside Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,073 students
- Santa Fe Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,072 students
- Cottonwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,023 students
Other Tarkington Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Tarkington Elementary. Tarkington Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Tarkington Elementary SchoolChicago, IL · 791 students
Nearby schools
- Tarkington Early Childhood School0.2 mi · 214
- Tarkington Middle School0.3 mi · 411
- Tarkington High School0.3 mi · 544
- Cleveland Middle School6.4 mi · 1,446
- Cleveland High School6.6 mi · 3,627
- Eastside Elementary School6.7 mi · 867
Frequently asked questions
About Tarkington Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Tarkington Elementary School?
Tarkington Elementary School enrolls approximately 738 students in grades 01-05.
What grades does Tarkington Elementary School serve?
Tarkington Elementary School serves grades 01-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Tarkington Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Tarkington Elementary School is approximately 14.7:1 (50 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Tarkington Elementary School?
At Tarkington Elementary School, the student body is approximately 78% White, 17% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Tarkington Elementary School in?
Tarkington Elementary School is part of TARKINGTON ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.