How does Dartmouth Middle compare to other middle schools in San Jose?

Dartmouth Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 61.0/100, placing it at the 89th percentile statewide. 41% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,771 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Dartmouth Middle?

41.0% of students at Dartmouth Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 64.7% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Dartmouth Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Dartmouth Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 0.9 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This pattern in test scores may reflect a variety of factors beyond the school itself.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Dartmouth Middle?

9.4% of students at Dartmouth Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days). This metric reflects school culture and family engagement, and is weighted at 15% in our composite score.

Dartmouth Middle

Middle School

Union Elementary San JoseSanta Clara County95118

📍 5575 Dartmouth Drive

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

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Composite scores are SchoolScope's analysis of public data from the California Dept. of Education (CAASPP, chronic absenteeism, suspension rates). They are not official CDE ratings and should not be the sole basis for school decisions. See methodology.

School overview

Enrollment

850 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

16%

Teachers

40 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.9 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

+2.7 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

28.2%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 110 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic22.2%

White33.2%

Asian33.8%

Black1.1%

Other9.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Dartmouth Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	41.0%
Met Standard	23.7%
Below Standard	35.3%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "65% proficient" for Dartmouth Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

41.0% of students exceeded standard while 23.7% met it. That exceeded rate is 23.7 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 12.0 points below the Union Elementary district average of 53.0%. Compared to the 4 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 5.6 points higher (vs 35.4% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 0.9 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth — a signal that the school may not be sustaining early gains.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance maintained and Math maintained year-over-year. 28.2% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 9.4%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

41.0%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

64.7%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-0.9pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

9.4%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

1.8%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,771

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

ELA Trajectory

G6 → G7 → G8

Math Trajectory

G6 → G7 → G8

ELA scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	285	32.3%	30.2%	21.4%	16.1%	62.5%
7th	304	35.2%	33.9%	15.1%	15.8%	69.1%
8th	293	34.1%	32.4%	12.6%	20.8%	66.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	287	46.7%	18.1%	16.0%	19.2%	64.8%
7th	307	50.2%	16.3%	17.9%	15.6%	66.5%
8th	295	47.5%	11.5%	12.5%	28.5%	59.0%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

▼

Middle

Dartmouth Middle

61.089th pctile

This school

▼

High School

No feeder data available for this level

Feeder patterns derived from 2015-16 NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries may have changed. Contact your school district for current information.