Enrollment
486
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Houston, TX
Federal NCES profile for Mark White El, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 31/100.
The verdict
Mark White El earns 31/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 75% of Texas schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools.
Mark White El has class sizes smaller than 75% of Texas schools. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Mark White El ranks #353 of 435 schools in Houston, TX.
Enrollment
486
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Teachers (FTE)
40.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.2:1
vs 14.7:1 Texas avg
-17% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
73.4%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
+19% vs state
How Mark White El compares with Texas and U.S. medians
Smaller classes than state median
12.2:1 - 2.5 below the Texas state median of 14.7:1, indicating smaller average class loads than typical schools in the state.
Mark White El is a higher-need, mid-sized combined-grade school in Houston, Texas, enrolling 486 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.2:1 puts it in the smaller third of Texas schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 73.4% of students eligible for free meals.
With 486 students, its enrollment sits close to the Texas median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 8,960 scored Texas schools.
Among 1,876 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Texas schools statewide, it ranks #1,628, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (46%) and African American (29%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 68/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 486 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 41.2% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 23.2% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Houston Isd also operates Texas Connections Academy at Houston (8,641 students) and Bellaire H S (3,216 students) alongside Mark White El.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
Mark White El on the metrics families compare, against Texas and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12.2:1 | ▼ 17% | 14.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 73.4% | ▲ 19% | 61.9% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 486 | top 52% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 45.9% of enrollment.
Simpson diversity index - at 67.9, Mark White El is more mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Houston Isd, which includes Mark White El.
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Connections Academy at Houston | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Bellaire H S | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Lamar H S | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Westside H S | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Heights H S | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Mark White El's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Texas, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Mark White El's federal record.
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Mark White El has 486 students enrolled. It is a public school in Houston, TX.
The student-teacher ratio at Mark White El is 12.2:1, which is 17% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 22% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
73.4% of students at Mark White El are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
The largest demographic group at Mark White El is Hispanic or Latino at 45.9% of enrollment, in Houston, TX. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 67.9/100.
Mark White El has a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
By Resource Investment Index, Mark White El ranks #353 of 435 schools in Houston, TX. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Houston on the city page.
Mark White El earns 31/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 75% of Texas schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
Besides Mark White El, Houston Isd also operates Texas Connections Academy at Houston (8,641 students), Bellaire H S (3,216 students), and Lamar H S (2,968 students). See the Houston Isd district page for the complete list.
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
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PlainSchools, “Mark White El, Houston TX.” Compiled from NCES Common Core of Data, Civil Rights Data Collection, and the NCES F-33 finance survey; data as of June 2026. https://plainschools.com/schools/mark-white-el-tx
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