James Earl Carter Elementary: English learners reach fluency faster than the state rate. But the zoned next school scores lower.
James Earl Carter holds its own. Scores drop at the schools it feeds into. Ask where its graduates actually enrol, and whether families stay on the zoned path.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51 | 31% | 54% | +4.0 | 25.1% | 2.1% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
James Earl Carter Elementary scores 51 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 68th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
📈 On the Rise — Ask how many years the improvement has held, not just the latest one — one strong cohort and a real turnaround can look identical in a single year of data.
Most rating sites would stop at “54% proficient” and call it done. James Earl Carter deserves a closer read. The school sits in Palm Desert, where three in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
James Earl Carter's low-income kids hit 48.8% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 68th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 54% meet the standard today, versus 65% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 76% | 68% | 71% | 52% | 56% |
| Grade 4 | 76% | 56% | 57% | 67% | 45% |
| Grade 5 | 66% | 64% | 65% | 69% | 66% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 64% | 69% | 64% | 48% | 55% |
| Grade 4 | 57% | 48% | 64% | 58% | 47% |
| Grade 5 | 49% | 48% | 46% | 46% | 52% |
The story this school is actually telling
of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.
the zoned path continues to Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle, which scores 24 points lower — the data can't say why.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding rises 8.7pp across grades; the floor rises 10.7pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
James Earl Carter's most underrated number
48.8% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At James Earl Carter Elementary in Palm Desert, 48.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 35.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. James Earl Carter Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 13.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (44.0% Math proficient); Hispanic students (48.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 8.5 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 166 students tested.
9 of 16 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
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 20.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (39.5% vs 20.8%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle, which scores 24 points lower than this school — worth weighing alongside everything above. Families here often look at charter or magnet options for middle school.
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
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$848 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 49% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is James Earl Carter Elementary a good elementary school?
What are James Earl Carter Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does James Earl Carter Elementary rank in California?
Is James Earl Carter Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at James Earl Carter Elementary?
How does James Earl Carter Elementary compare to other schools in Palm Desert?
How does James Earl Carter Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 49
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 81 | 28% | 27% | 21% | 23% | 56% | +12 |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 24% | 21% | 24% | 31% | 45% | +0 |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 37% | 29% | 17% | 17% | 66% | +18 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 82 | 30% | 24% | 26% | 20% | 55% | +9 |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 29% | 18% | 22% | 31% | 47% | +6 |
| Grade 5 | 90 | 36% | 17% | 28% | 20% | 52% | +17 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 90 | 22% | 27% | 42% | 9% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 166 | 48.8% | +14 | +11 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 119 | 48.7% | +13 | +10 |
| White | 76 | 64.5% | +2 | +3 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Earl Carter Elementary ← | — | 51 | 30.9% | 53.5% | +4.0 | 2.1% |
| George Washington Charter | 2.1 mi | 58 | 37.9% | 68.4% | −1.2 | 1.2% |
| Abraham Lincoln Elementary | 0.9 mi | 41 | 11.6% | 30.6% | +2.5 | 3.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 56 | 75 | #1351 | 38.3% | 64.7% | 8.0% | 0.3% | -12.9pp |
| 2022 | 46 | 70 | #1717 | 27.3% | 58.7% | 36.9% | 1.6% | -12.0pp |
| 2023 | 50 | 73 | #1565 | 32.3% | 61.1% | 29.8% | 0.2% | -11.8pp |
| 2024 | 51 | 70 | #1731 | 27.8% | 56.8% | 24.1% | 0.3% | +7.5pp |
| 2025 | 51 | 68 | #1829 | 30.9% | 53.5% | 25.1% | 2.1% | +4.0pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 7.4% | 21.5% | +14.1pp |
| Male | 8.4% | 29.3% | +20.9pp |
| Asian | 0.0% | 20.0% | +20.0pp |
| Black/African American | 18.2% | 36.4% | +18.2pp |
| White | 6.7% | 0.0% | -6.7pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.9% | 29.9% | +20.0pp |
| Two or More Races | 2.8% | 23.8% | +21.0pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 13.3% | 39.2% | +25.9pp |
| English Learners | 7.9% | 27.5% | +19.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 8.6% | 30.6% | +22.0pp |
| All Students | 7.9% | 25.5% | +17.6pp |
| Filipino | — | 17.4% | — |
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