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Edison Middle · BakersfieldPublic

Edison Middle: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.

Edison posts low test scores — and attendance holds near the state average — families haven't checked out. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.

721 South Edison Road, 93307 (opens in new tab)·Edison Elementary·Bakersfield·Grades 5-8·489 students·88% low-income·2024–25 CAASPP·(661) 366-8216·Website
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope2138
% Exceeded3%17%
% Met+17%39%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Weak · p38Average · p50
Absence11.2%18.5%
Suspension3.2%3.7%
Scope Score
21
🌱 Building Momentum · Needs Support
ranked #1,909 statewide

Edison Middle scores 21 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 15th 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.

Most rating sites would stop at “17% proficient” and call it done. Edison deserves a closer read. The school sits in Bakersfield, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

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

Slipped from the 31st to the 15th percentile since 2019.

ELAOrange(Declined)MathOrange(Increased)

This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 17% meet the standard today, versus 28% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 532%10%23%24%33%
Grade 634%27%16%30%16%
Grade 736%32%40%30%33%
Grade 835%32%33%33%21%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 525%5%12%10%19%
Grade 622%16%5%15%13%
Grade 731%16%19%6%15%
Grade 811%16%8%16%2%

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.

13%
83%
Grade 6 · 17% proficient
26%
67%
Grade 7 · 33% proficient
20%
78%
Grade 8 · 22% proficient

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
3.3%
State 16.8%
13.5pp below state avg
Met or exceeded
16.7%
State 39.3%
22.6pp below state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Weak
State average
The same students gained 36 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
11.2%
State 18.5%
7.3pp below state avg
Suspension rate
3.2%
State 3.7%
0.4pp below state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
20.8%
State 18.0%
2.9pp above 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. The two measures land in the same neighbourhood here — ours puts this school around the 38th percentile of California middle schools, the state's around the 24th in reading and math together. Two different methods agreeing is the most you can ask of one year of test data.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measuresame cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 38th percentile among California middle schools.38th pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: −8 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 21st percentile of 7,519 reported schools.21st pctile · −8 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: −7 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 28th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.28th pctile · −7 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 what changes between grade 6 and grade 8 here, and who teaches the older kids.
  • 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 Edison Middle in Bakersfield, 23.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 26.3% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Edison Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 2.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (11.1% Math proficient); Hispanic students (26.1% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 19.3 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 427 students tested.

All students at this school: 19% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 19%, district —, state 39%19%
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 18%, district 22%, state 32%18% · −2 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 19%, district 23%, state 32%19% · −0 vs school
MaleMale: this school 18%, district 26%, state 42%18% · −1 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 20%, district 21%, state 44%20% · +1 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 5%, district 10%, state 11%5% · −14 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 3%, district 7%, state 15%3% · −17 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 18%, district 18%, state 56%18% · −1 vs school

5 of 13 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 5.8pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +5.8pp.

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 students398 studentsLow-income students, reading: −9 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 398 students.−9 pts · −6 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students390 studentsHispanic or Latino students, reading: −7 scale-score points versus expectation, against −2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 390 students.−7 pts · −5 vs typical
English Only255 studentsEnglish Only, reading: −10 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 255 students.−10 pts · −10 vs typical
English Learner134 studentsEnglish Learner, reading: −3 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 134 students.−3 pts · +2 vs typical
English learners only90 studentsEnglish learners only, reading: −13 scale-score points versus expectation, against −15 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 90 students.−13 pts · +2 vs typical
Math
Low-income students398 studentsLow-income students, math: −7 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 398 students.−7 pts · −2 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students390 studentsHispanic or Latino students, math: −6 scale-score points versus expectation, against −6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 390 students.−6 pts · 0 vs typical
English Only255 studentsEnglish Only, math: −9 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 255 students.−9 pts · −6 vs typical
English Learner134 studentsEnglish Learner, math: 0 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 134 students.0 pts · +3 vs typical
English learners only90 studentsEnglish learners only, math: −1 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 90 students.−1 pts · +4 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 3 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 11.2%, district 11.2%, state 18.5%11.2% · −7.3pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 3.2%, district —, state 3.7%3.2% · −0.4pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–612.4%
Grades 7–89.5%

Where the path goes

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

K-12 Feeder Path
Middle
Edison Middle
21/100
This school
High School
No feeder data available for this level

Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Student : teacherStudent to teacher ratio: this school 17:1, district 20:117:1
Teaching staff29 teachers
Avg. experience8.7 years
Fully credentialed80%
First-year teachers34%
Intern / emergency permit6.6%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$56,399 – $111,452
Principal salaryFrom $136,672
Superintendent salary$204,716

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: $21,829, CA average $14,491$21,829 · spent at this school
Federal share$719 per student

$719 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$21,505 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 support10%
Student services13%
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$13,962 per pupil
2019$13,519 per pupil
2018$14,633 per pupil
2017$12,867 per pupil
2016$11,953 per pupil

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Hispanic88.5%
District 88.4% · CA 56.1%
White6.5%
District 6.1% · CA 19.9%
Black3.1%
District 2.6% · CA 4.8%
Other1.8%
District 2.8% · CA 9.0%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 88.1% (24pp above CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$56K · CA $85K
Median home value$272K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+8% · CA 35%
ZIP population85,945
Median age28 years

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

Worth Knowing

On the state's science test (CAST), 17% 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 Edison Middle a good middle school?

Edison Middle has a Scope Score of 21 out of 100, placing it in the 15th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #1,909 statewide. 3.3% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 13.5 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 Edison Middle's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 16.7% of students at Edison Middle met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 3.3% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 13.4% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 3.3% 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. 694 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Edison Middle rank in California?

Edison Middle ranks #1,909 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 15th 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 Edison Middle getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Edison Middle that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks weak among California middle schools — roughly the 38th 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 Edison Middle?

11.2% of students at Edison Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 18.5%. The suspension rate is 3.2%. 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 Edison Middle compare to other schools in Bakersfield?

Edison Middle scores 21/100 (15th 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. The school serves 489 students. Use the schools in Bakersfield page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Edison Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Edison Middle in Bakersfield, 23.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 26.3% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Edison Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 2.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (11.1% Math proficient); Hispanic students (26.1% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 19.3 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 427 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

Private alternatives nearby

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


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%
3.3%
↓ vs CA 16.8% · 35th pctile
Met or exceeded · 23%
16.7%
↓ vs CA 39.3% · 32th pctile
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Weak
↓ vs CA average · 38th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
11.2%
↑ vs CA 18.5% · 60th pctile
▼ 11.3pp lower vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
3.2%
↑ vs CA 3.7% · 52th pctile
▲ 1.7pp higher vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
20.8%
↑ vs CA 18.0% · 49th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 51258%25%14%53%33%−15
Grade 61044%13%27%57%16%−30
Grade 71237%26%28%40%33%−15
Grade 81212%20%36%43%21%−25
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 51246%13%26%56%19%−16
Grade 61043%10%25%63%13%−22
Grade 71215%10%30%55%15%−19
Grade 81210%2%24%74%2%−30

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
Schoolwide2454%13%68%15%

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 Disadvantaged42723.9%−2−14
Hispanic/Latino41826.1%−2−13
English Learners1166.9%−5−4
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
Edison Middle ←213.3%16.7%−2.4pp+36 pts3.2%
Paul L. Cato Middle2.3 mi4116.6%41.8%−7.2pp1.9%
Walter Stiern Middle3 mi193.4%16.4%−3.2pp2.8%
California average3816.8%39.3%+1.5pp3.7%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
20192731#13967.7%28.2%10.5%2.0%-4.4pp
20222329#15366.7%23.3%36.1%3.1%+2.4pp
20231611#19423.4%20.0%32.0%11.3%+10.0pp
20242627#16045.3%21.6%22.5%1.5%+2.4pp
20252115#19093.3%16.7%11.2%3.2%-2.4pp
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
What we can't show
  • — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 14 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female7.9%8.3%+0.4pp
Male12.9%12.9%+0.0pp
Black/African American9.1%17.6%+8.5pp
Hispanic/Latino8.3%11.0%+2.7pp
Students with Disabilities29.3%22.4%-6.9pp
English Learners11.1%14.9%+3.8pp
Homeless19.5%37.5%+18.0pp
Military-Connected9.1%
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged10.4%11.3%+0.9pp
All Students10.4%10.9%+0.5pp
11California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students−8439Moderate−7439Moderate
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged−9398Moderate−7398Moderate
Hispanic or Latino−7390Moderate−6390Moderate
English Only−10255not categorised−9255not categorised
English Learner−3134Average0134Average
English Learners Only−1390not categorised−190not categorised
Long-Term English Learner (grades 6-8 only)−857Moderate−857Moderate
Students with Disabilities−1547Moderate−547Average
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only+1744not categorised+144not categorised
White−527Average−1327Moderate
Homeless Youth023Average+623Accelerated
Black or African American−2314Minimal−414Average

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