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Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma · PalmdalePublic

Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.

Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma posts low test scores — and grade 8 tests above grade 6 here this year, by 5.6pp. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.

36555 Sunny Lane, 93550 (opens in new tab)·Palmdale Elementary·Palmdale·Grades 6-8·2024–25 CAASPP·(661) 285-5866·Website
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope1938
% Exceeded5%17%
% Met+20%39%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Below avg · p41Average · p50
Absence33.4%18.5%
Suspension10.7%3.7%
Scope Score
19
🌱 Building Momentum · Needs Support
ranked #2,004 statewide · #9 of 13 in Palmdale Elementary

Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma scores 19 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 10th percentile of 2,238 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →

🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.

CDE CAASPP 2025

Most rating sites would stop at “20% proficient” and call it done. Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma deserves a closer read. It sits at the 10th percentile of 2,238 California middle schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.

Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 2,238 middle schools statewide

Has stayed near the 10th percentile since 2019.

CA Dashboard
ELAOrange(Maintained)MathRed(Declined)

Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 20% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 630%24%25%29%27%
Grade 732%28%36%29%31%
Grade 831%33%31%28%33%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 614%11%13%10%8%
Grade 714%7%15%12%8%
Grade 812%9%7%11%13%

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

21%
73%
Grade 6 · 27% proficient
25%
69%
Grade 7 · 31% proficient
8%
25%
67%
Grade 8 · 33% proficient

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
5.0%
State 16.8%
11.8pp below state avg
Met or exceeded
19.9%
State 39.3%
19.3pp below state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Below avg
State average
The same students gained 39 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.
Chronic absenteeism
33.4%
State 18.5%
14.8pp above state avg
Suspension rate
10.7%
State 3.7%
7.0pp above state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
13.9%
State 18.0%
4.1pp below state avg

California's own answer to the same question

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model, following individual children in grades 4 through 8 rather than comparing school-wide averages the way we do — and its two subjects part company here. It puts this school around the 23rd percentile of California middle schools in reading and the 1st in math; ours, which blends the subjects, lands around the 41st. A gap that size between reading and math in one building is worth asking about directly — one year of data can't tell you whether it is the teaching, the cohort, or noise.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measuresame cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 41st percentile among California middle schools.41st pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: −7 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 23rd percentile of 7,519 reported schools.23rd pctile · −7 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: −30 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 1st percentile of 7,518 reported schools.1st pctile · −30 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

— pts vs expected is scale-score points above or below what California's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores. It is not a percentage and not a percent of anything. A typical California middle school lands at −1 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −8 and +6 — the spread is wide, so read the rank, not the sign. CDE blends two consecutive years into each published figure, so adjacent years share input data and no year-over-year trend can honestly be drawn from them. It covers grades 4-8 only, and it is not part of the Scope Score — we assessed it and left it out: it tracks school demographics roughly three times as strongly as our own growth measure does, and one published year is not enough to test how stable it is.

Worth a school visit

Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.

  • Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
  • Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
  • Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
  • Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
  • Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
  • Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.

How every group of students does here

At Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma in Palmdale, 29.7% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 27.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma outperforms its district average for low-income students by 1.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.0% Math proficient); Hispanic students (30.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 28.3 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 818 students tested.

All students at this school: 20% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 20%, district —, state 39%20%
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 19%, district 22%, state 32%19% · −1 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 20%, district 26%, state 32%20% · −0 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 21%, district 25%, state 44%21% · +1 vs school
MaleMale: this school 19%, district 24%, state 42%19% · −1 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 4%, district 6%, state 15%4% · −16 vs school
Black/African AmericanBlack/African American: this school 10%, district 13%, state 26%10% · −11 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 2%, district 5%, state 11%2% · −19 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 45%, district 34%, state 56%45% · +25 vs school

7 of 16 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 7.0pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +5.0pp.

The state's growth model, by student group

California follows these children individually and predicts each one's score from their own prior year. Each row is read against the same group at a typical California middle school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
Low-income students753 studentsLow-income students, reading: −7 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 753 students.−7 pts · −4 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students661 studentsHispanic or Latino students, reading: −5 scale-score points versus expectation, against −2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 661 students.−5 pts · −3 vs typical
English Only537 studentsEnglish Only, reading: −9 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 537 students.−9 pts · −9 vs typical
English Learner172 studentsEnglish Learner, reading: −11 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 172 students.−11 pts · −6 vs typical
Students with disabilities106 studentsStudents with disabilities, reading: −21 scale-score points versus expectation, against −13 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 106 students.−21 pts · −8 vs typical
Math
Low-income students749 studentsLow-income students, math: −30 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 749 students.−30 pts · −25 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students658 studentsHispanic or Latino students, math: −28 scale-score points versus expectation, against −6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 658 students.−28 pts · −22 vs typical
English Only534 studentsEnglish Only, math: −30 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 534 students.−30 pts · −27 vs typical
English Learner171 studentsEnglish Learner, math: −32 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 171 students.−32 pts · −29 vs typical
Students with disabilities106 studentsStudents with disabilities, math: −19 scale-score points versus expectation, against −8 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 106 students.−19 pts · −11 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 2 more groups are reported here with between 11 and 29 students. We hold those back on purpose: at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own, and a quarter of such groups land past the state's top or bottom cut point by chance alone. They are listed with their student counts in the data appendix. — A group not listed at all had fewer than 11 students with a growth score, so California published nothing for it here. That is a privacy protection, not a judgment about those students. — Context only. None of this enters the Scope Score.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 33.4%, district 29.9%, state 18.5%33.4% · +14.8pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 10.7%, district —, state 3.7%10.7% · +7.0pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–634.3%
Grades 7–833.4%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path
▼
Middle
Desert Willow Fine Arts, Scien…
19/100
This school

Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.

Palmdale Academy CharterScope 49estimated path

The road from this school ends at Palmdale Academy Charter, which sent 6 graduates to UC campuses last fall and teaches 13 AP subjects. Those numbers describe past cohorts — a child starting here today would reach Palmdale Academy Charter around 2031, and 6 years is a long time for a school to hold still.

6 UC ENROLLEES (FALL 2025) · 13 AP SUBJECTS TAUGHT → full record on Palmdale Academy Charter's page
Source: UC & College Board

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Teaching staff46 teachers
Avg. experience7.7 years
Fully credentialed76%
First-year teachers15%
Intern / emergency permit2.2%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$58,752 – $131,333
Principal salary$148,872 – $157,080
Superintendent salary$334,851

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $21,205, CA average $14,491$21,205 · spent at this school
Federal share$685 per student

$685 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$22,456 per student

The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction59%
Instruction support11%
Student services12%
Administration7%
Buildings & maintenance10%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$15,361 per pupil
2019$14,286 per pupil
2018$13,697 per pupil
2017$12,106 per pupil
2016$11,281 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Hispanic80.1%
District 78.6% · CA 56.1%
Black12.4%
District 12.5% · CA 4.8%
White3.7%
District 4.0% · CA 19.9%
Other3.3%
District 4.3% · CA 9.0%
Asian0.4%
District 0.6% · CA 10.2%
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$62K · CA $85K
Median home value$421K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+10% · CA 35%
ZIP population80,645
Median age31 years

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level

Worth Knowing

On the state's science test (CAST), 11% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Frequently asked questions

Is Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma a good middle school?

Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma has a Scope Score of 19 out of 100, placing it in the 10th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #2,004 statewide. 5.0% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 11.8 percentage points below the California average of 16.8%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 6-to-8 growth (20%), chronic absenteeism (5%), suspension rate (5%), and ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.

What are Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 19.9% of students at Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 5.0% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 15.0% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 5.0% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 1,781 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma rank in California?

Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma ranks #2,004 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 10th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.

Is Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks below avg among California middle schools — roughly the 41st percentile, behind the typical school at this level. Read the ranking, not the raw point gain: scale scores rise with age, so nearly every school posts a positive number and only the relative position tells you anything. Growth is weighted at 20% in the middle Scope Score because it is the least demographically confounded signal available — it tracks change over time rather than the level students arrived at. See full methodology.

What is the attendance and school culture like at Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma?

33.4% of students at Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 18.5%. The suspension rate is 10.7%. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.

How does Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma compare to other schools in Palmdale?

Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma scores 19/100 (10th percentile) among California middle schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. Use the schools in Palmdale page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma in Palmdale, 29.7% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 27.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma outperforms its district average for low-income students by 1.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.0% Math proficient); Hispanic students (30.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 28.3 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 818 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.

Your other options

All schools in Palmdale →

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.

A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means

For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and nearest schools.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 42%
5.0%
↓ vs CA 16.8% · 37th pctile
Met or exceeded · 23%
19.9%
↓ vs CA 39.3% · 34th pctile
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Below avg
↓ vs CA average · 41th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
33.4%
↓ vs CA 18.5% · 29th pctile
▼ 0.1pp lower vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
10.7%
↓ vs CA 3.7% · 22th pctile
▲ 2.3pp higher vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
13.9%
↓ vs CA 18.0% · 40th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 62336%21%25%49%27%−20
Grade 73216%25%22%48%31%−17
Grade 83378%25%27%39%33%−13
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 62333%6%21%71%8%−26
Grade 73183%5%20%72%8%−25
Grade 83395%8%16%71%13%−19

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, no valid result was published, or the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide3382%9%71%18%

CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged81829.7%+2−8
Hispanic/Latino71230.7%−1−8
Students with Disabilities1195.0%−2−12
03Nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = the same students tracked across grades, in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma ←—195.0%19.9%+5.6pp+39 pts10.7%
Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Ac2.1 mi244.5%19.3%+2.6pp—9.4%
Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade1.5 mi165.4%18.8%+1.8pp—14.9%
California average—3816.8%39.3%+1.5pp—3.7%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
2019167#18793.9%22.2%17.5%14.8%-0.2pp
20221814#18574.0%18.7%14.8%12.7%+3.0pp
20232126#16115.0%21.2%15.1%6.5%-0.4pp
20242115#18794.3%19.9%33.5%8.3%+0.4pp
20251910#20045.0%19.9%33.4%10.7%+5.6pp
Grade gap = this year's grade 3 vs grade 5 result, two different sets of students, not a trend for any one child — it is not the measurement the Scope Score's growth dimension uses. See §01 above and /methodology#verdicts for the school's actual scored (cohort) growth.
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID) · SCORE AND PERCENTILE ARE RELATIVE TO EACH YEAR'S FIELD
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female16.2%32.9%+16.7pp
Male18.9%34.3%+15.4pp
Black/African American21.1%38.3%+17.2pp
Hispanic/Latino16.6%33.3%+16.7pp
American Indian/Alaska Native25.0%——
Two or More Races18.2%73.7%+55.5pp
Students with Disabilities23.8%39.5%+15.7pp
English Learners16.5%28.9%+12.4pp
Foster Youth22.4%22.7%+0.3pp
Homeless76.9%54.5%-22.4pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged18.0%35.0%+17.0pp
All Students17.6%33.6%+16.0pp
11California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students−7815Moderate−30811Minimal
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged−7753Moderate−30749Minimal
Hispanic or Latino−5661Average−28658Minimal
English Only−9537not categorised−30534not categorised
English Learner−11172Moderate−32171Minimal
Students with Disabilities−21106Minimal−19106Moderate
Black or African American−1495Moderate−3295Minimal
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only−695not categorised−4394not categorised
Long-Term English Learner (grades 6-8 only)−1187Moderate−2287Minimal
English Learners Only−1677not categorised−1977not categorised
White−831Moderate−2531Minimal
Foster Youth−1312Moderate−3212Minimal
Two or More Races−1112Moderate−2712Minimal

Whole scale-score points above or below what CDE's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores — not a percentage, not a percentile. Statewide a typical school lands near +1 with a spread of about 13 points either side, so read a figure against its group's own typical value, not against zero. Muted rows have fewer than 30 students with a growth score — published by CDE, held back from the narrative sections above because at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own. “Not categorised” is CDE assigning no band — English Only, Recently Reclassified, and English Learners Only receive a value and no band, for every school in the state. It is not a missing number. Long-Term English Learner counts cover grades 6-8 only (CDE), so that row is not comparable to the All Students row. Most figures blend two consecutive years, so adjacent published years share input data and no trend line can honestly be drawn across them. A group absent from this table had fewer than 11 students with a growth score and was never published. Grades 4-8 only. None of this enters the Scope Score — it is more strongly correlated with school demographics than our own growth measure, and one published year is not enough to test its reliability.

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EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=2,238 middle schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction

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