Playa Vista Elementary
Los Angeles Unified
86
StrongScope Score · 87th percentile
Compare · elementary
Playa Vista Elementary and Cowan Avenue
Playa Vista Elementary scores 86 and Cowan Avenue 81 among California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests). Playa Vista Elementary’s English (reading and writing) and math results are clearly higher.
Cowan Avenue Elementary
Los Angeles Unified
81
StrongScope Score · 76th percentile
Campus drawings © OpenStreetMap contributors. A drawing shows the campus, not an attendance boundary.
Add or change schools
2 of 4 schools · Find schools to compare
Save schools as you browse and compare them here any time. Create a free account
Biggest differences
What are the biggest differences?
The biggest difference in test results is in English. Playa Vista Elementary has the highest share and Cowan Avenue has the lowest.
Biggest difference
16points
in English. 68% of Playa Vista Elementary students scored Proficient or Advanced. At Cowan Avenue it was 52%.
Lowest absence
15in 100
students at Playa Vista Elementary missed 10% or more of school days. It was 23 in 100 at Cowan Avenue.
Low-income families
63%
of Cowan Avenue’s students are from low-income families. At Playa Vista Elementary it is 22%.
Each tile is read from the figures below, for the schools scored among California elementary schools. Chronic absence is the 2025–26 school year. Students from low-income families are students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, 2024–25.
Test results
How do their test results compare?
The dark part of each bar is students who scored Advanced. The light part is students who scored Proficient. The dashed line is California for the same grades.
English: Proficient or Advanced
Reading and writing
Playa Vista Elementary68%Clearly aheadAdvanced: 44%, clearly ahead
Cowan Avenue52%Advanced: 27%
California46%Advanced: 24%
Math: Proficient or Advanced
Share of students tested
Playa Vista Elementary71%Clearly aheadAdvanced: 43%, clearly ahead
Cowan Avenue56%Advanced: 30%
California42%Advanced: 21%
Grades 3–5, spring 2026. From spring 2026, the state calls its top two levels “Proficient or Advanced” (formerly “Met or Exceeded”). Source: California’s state tests (CAASPP), California Department of Education.
Year by year
How have their results changed?
Cowan Avenue’s English results changed the most. In 2017, 60% of its students were in the state’s top two test levels. In 2026 it was 52%.
Share of students in the state’s top two test levels, 2017 to 2026
Grades 3–5. Each year is a different group of students.
English
25%50%75%No comparable tests2017201820192022202320242025202668%Playa Vista Elementary52%Cowan Avenue46%California
Math
25%50%75%No comparable tests2017201820192022202320242025202671%Playa Vista Elementary56%Cowan Avenue42%California
The lines break across the COVID years, when state testing was waived or optional. Each figure is our combination of the grades’ published results, weighted by students tested. Source: California’s state tests (CAASPP), California Department of Education.
Life at school
Do students show up and stay in class?
A shorter bar is better here. The dashed line is the average California elementary school we score.
Chronically absent
Students in 100 who missed 10% or more of school days
Playa Vista Elementary15 in 100Clearly ahead69 of 469 students
Cowan Avenue23 in 10091 of 399 students
Average school17 in 100
Suspended at least once
Share of students enrolled at any point in the year
Playa Vista Elementary0%0 of 477 students
Cowan Avenue0.7%3 of 414 students
Average school1.6%
2025–26 school year. Average school: the average California elementary school we score. Source: California Department of Education.
State growth measure
How did results compare with what the state expected?
The state sets an expected score for each student from that student’s earlier scores. A bar to the right means students scored above it.
English
Points against the expected score
Playa Vista Elementary+2points
Cowan Avenue+3points
Math
Points against the expected score
Playa Vista Elementary−2points
Cowan Avenue+3points
- Playa Vista ElementaryGrades 4–5. The state calls both results Average. 108 students.
- Cowan AvenueGrades 4–6. The state calls both results Average. 126 students.
Spring 2025. Students with scores in both years. The measure describes results, not causes. Source: California Department of Education growth model.
Culture, side by side
What do the school, its families and the records say?
A school’s words are its claims. The district’s survey and the staffing records are evidence.
| Measure | Playa Vista Elementary | Cowan Avenue |
|---|---|---|
| LAUSD School Experience Survey, 2025–26The share of students, families and staff who agreed. The mark on each bar is the district. | ||
| Students: Safety | Playa Vista Elementary83%LAUSD 77% · 95 answers | Cowan Avenue67%LAUSD 77% · 126 answers |
| Students: Belonging | Playa Vista Elementary64%LAUSD 68% · 92 to 95 answers | Cowan Avenue54%LAUSD 68% · 122 to 126 answers |
| Students: Caring adults | Playa Vista Elementary74%LAUSD 75% · 91 to 95 answers | Cowan Avenue63%LAUSD 75% · 121 to 126 answers |
| Families: Safety | Playa Vista Elementary73%LAUSD 91% · 82 answers | Cowan Avenue80%LAUSD 91% · 131 answers |
| Families: Belonging | Playa Vista Elementary84%LAUSD 94% · 82 to 84 answers | Cowan Avenue90%LAUSD 94% · 133 to 140 answers |
| Staff: Safety | Playa Vista Elementary100%LAUSD 97% · 40 answers | Cowan Avenue94%LAUSD 97% · 46 answers |
| From the staffing records | ||
| Average years of teaching experience2024–25 school year | Playa Vista Elementary19 | Cowan Avenue16 |
| Teachers in their first year2024–25 school year | Playa Vista Elementary0% | Cowan Avenue0% |
Show every subject in the survey
| Measure | Playa Vista Elementary | Cowan Avenue |
|---|---|---|
| LAUSD School Experience Survey, 2025–26 | ||
| Students: Engagement | Playa Vista Elementary64%LAUSD 68% · 91 to 94 answers | Cowan Avenue59%LAUSD 68% · 120 to 123 answers |
| Students: High expectations | Playa Vista Elementary83%LAUSD 84% · 92 to 93 answers | Cowan Avenue78%LAUSD 84% · 121 to 124 answers |
| Students: Bullied 2 or more times in the past 30 daysLower is better | Playa Vista Elementary26%LAUSD 24% · 90 to 94 answers | Cowan Avenue33%LAUSD 24% · 122 to 126 answers |
| Families: Caring adults | Playa Vista Elementary90%LAUSD 94% · 84 answers | Cowan Avenue89%LAUSD 94% · 135 to 136 answers |
| Families: Engagement | Playa Vista Elementary78%LAUSD 91% · 84 answers | Cowan Avenue83%LAUSD 91% · 136 to 140 answers |
| Families: Bullying reports taken seriously | Playa Vista Elementary51%LAUSD 80% · 83 answers | Cowan Avenue65%LAUSD 80% · 134 answers |
| Staff: Caring adults | Playa Vista Elementary88%LAUSD 89% · 39 to 43 answers | Cowan Avenue84%LAUSD 89% · 46 to 47 answers |
| Staff: High expectations | Playa Vista Elementary95%LAUSD 95% · 43 answers | Cowan Avenue89%LAUSD 95% · 47 answers |
| Staff: Bullying called a mild or insignificant problem | Playa Vista Elementary83%LAUSD 86% · 41 answers | Cowan Avenue61%LAUSD 86% · 46 answers |
School statements are from each school’s own website on the date shown. A survey figure averages the questions on that subject: the share who agreed, or for student bullying the share it happened to. Teacher records are from the California Department of Education. Nothing here is about a named person.
Who attends
Who attends, and how big are they?
Both schools are run by Los Angeles Unified. Ask the district which school serves your address.
| Measure | Playa Vista Elementary | Cowan Avenue |
|---|---|---|
| StudentsFederal school directory, 2024–25 | Playa Vista Elementary488 | Cowan Avenue377 |
| Students from low-income familiesEligible for free or reduced-price meals, 2024–25. California: 63% | Playa Vista Elementary22%106 of 488 students | Cowan Avenue63%239 of 377 students |
| Students per teacherA staffing ratio, not class size | Playa Vista Elementary22 | Cowan Avenue18 |
Show grades and who runs each school
| Measure | Playa Vista Elementary | Cowan Avenue |
|---|---|---|
| Grades | Playa Vista ElementaryTK–5 | Cowan AvenueTK–6 |
| Who runs the school | Playa Vista ElementaryLos Angeles Unified | Cowan AvenueLos Angeles Unified |
Sources
Sources and definitions
75 is the typical California school. 100 is the best result in the state. How we score schools
Test results are from California’s state tests (CAASPP), spring 2026. Each figure is the share of students tested in the level’s grades who scored Proficient or Advanced, for one subject. California’s figure is our combination of the state’s published rows for the same grades.
“Clearly ahead” marks a figure that is ahead of the others by more than twice the margin of error. On chronic absence, ahead means lower.
Chronic absence and suspensions are the California Department of Education’s 2025–26 counts. “Chronically absent” means a student missed 10% or more of school days. The average school is the average California school we score at these schools’ level, with each school counted once.
The state growth measure is points above or below what the state expected from these students’ earlier scores. It covers grades 4–8 and comes from the state’s spring 2025 release.
The year-by-year chart shows each spring’s results for grades 3–5. Each year is a different group of students, so the chart does not show how the same students changed.
Students and students per teacher are from the federal school directory, 2024–25. Students from low-income families are students counted as eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the California Department of Education’s 2024–25 count.
Teacher experience is the California Department of Education’s staffing file for the school year shown (teachers only).