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Public elementary school

James Foster Elementary

Saugus, CA · Grades TK-6 · 508 students · Saugus Union

English learners reach fluency faster than the state rate. But math slips between grade 3 and grade 5.

54% of tested students are Proficient or Advanced in English and 52% in math. Explore the evidence alongside the opportunities your child would use.

SchoolScope archetype

Culture First

What this means for your family

Ask whether the low absenteeism and suspension numbers come from what the school does or from the community it serves — both can produce the same numbers, and only a visit tells you which.

How archetypes are assigned →

Contact

Math

52%

Grades 3 & 5 · Proficient or Advanced

English

54%

Grades 3 & 5 · Proficient or Advanced

Students

508

Total enrollment

Chronic absence

9%

Students absent 10% or more of school days

What are you trying to decide?

The overall score is a starting point.

Look at subject results, trends and student groups, then consider the opportunities your child would use.

View school performance →

Academic performance

What do the results tell us?

2025 results · Grades 3 & 5 · weighted by students tested within each subject.

Proficient or Advanced combines Levels 3 and 4, formerly Standard Met and Standard Exceeded. California changed the names for 2025–26; the cut scores did not. About the labels →

Share at Proficient or Advanced

0%25%50%75%100%2019: 48%2022: 48%2023: 52%2024: 50%2025: 52%2019: 65%2022: 59%2023: 65%2024: 55%2025: 54%201920222023202420250%25%50%75%100%2019: 48%2022: 48%2023: 52%2024: 50%2025: 52%2019: 65%2022: 59%2023: 65%2024: 55%2025: 54%20192022202320242025
● Math┄ English

Gaps in the lines mark years without annual results.

Exact annual results
YearMathEnglish
201948%65%
202248%59%
202352%65%
202450%55%
202552%54%

Each year describes that year’s tested students. Changes between years do not follow the same children over time. Cohort-growth evidence, when available, is labeled separately below.

Annual results and the full academic record
Is it getting better · CAASPP 2019 to 2025

Has held the 78th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.

Most rating sites would stop at “61% proficient” and call it done. James Foster deserves a closer read. One in three of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch (California: 64%) — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

James Foster's low-income kids hit 50.0% 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.

311 tested · 3 of 3 grades published · cohort of 76 tracked

James Foster Elementary scores 51 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 78th percentile of 5,721 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

The pandemic drop is behind this school: 61% of students meet the standard today, above the 56% who did in 2019.

Percentile among 5,721 elementary schools statewide
Year detailsYear2019 · 71st percentile · Scope Score 48 of 1002022 · 78th percentile · Scope Score 52 of 1002023 · 76th percentile · Scope Score 50 of 1002024 · 71st percentile · Scope Score 47 of 1002025 · 78th percentile · Scope Score 51 of 100
ELAGreen(Maintained)MathGreen(Increased)
ShowHide the by-grade tables, year by year
ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 357%62%70%63%53%
Grade 457%75%62%63%76%
Grade 573%57%59%48%55%
Grade 656%54%66%70%59%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 358%46%59%74%64%
Grade 454%64%57%63%74%
Grade 538%49%44%33%42%
Grade 651%48%43%52%54%
Where students land · CAASPP 2024–25

Three in five of students here meet the standard. One in three clear it by a lot.

ELA60% met or exceeded
Exceeded 34%Met 26%Nearly Met 21%Not Met 19%
Math57% met or exceeded
Exceeded 29%Met 27%Nearly Met 25%Not Met 18%
Exceeded Met Nearly Met Not Met
California elementary schools · average21% exceeded · 43% met or exceeded
This school against the California average
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
Scope% Exceeded% Met+Growth (2023 G3 → 2025 G5)AbsenceSuspension
This school5137%61%Weak · p369.3%0.9%
CA average · Elementary School3921%43%Average · p5017.9%1.6%
This schoolCA avg
Scope5139
% Exceeded37%21%
% Met+61%43%
Growth (2023 G3 → 2025 G5)Weak · p36Average · p50
Absence9.3%17.9%
Suspension0.9%1.6%
California’s growth results and student groups
State growth model · CDE growth model 2024–25

Our growth read and California's own model disagree here — the 36th percentile against the state's 74th.

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 here the two measures disagree. Ours puts this school around the 36th percentile of California elementary schools; the state's puts it around the 74th in reading and math together — a better read than ours. We are not going to pretend one of those is the answer. Neither measure sees an individual child's classroom, and a disagreement this size is worth asking the principal about directly.

— 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 elementary school lands at +2 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −5 and +9 — 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.

The returning cohort, two years on
ELA · 2023 · Grade 3
26%
exceeded standard · 70% met or exceeded
ELA · 2025 · Grade 5
33%
exceeded standard · 55% met or exceeded

Percent exceeded, ELA only. SchoolScope's scored growth measure uses a different metric — mean scale-score change across ELA and Math; California's own matched-student model is below.

Both measures, each ranked in its own field
Our growth measurereturning cohort, G3→G5SchoolScope growth measure: 36th percentile among California elementary schools.36th pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: +6 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 67th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.67th pctile · +6 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: +12 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 80th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.80th pctile · +12 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

Students & opportunity

Who shares in the school’s results?

Who it works for · CAASPP 2024–25

Low-income students here meet the ELA standard ahead of the same group statewide.

50.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. This comparison does not tell us what caused the difference.

Met or exceeded · reading and math combined
All students at this school: 58% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 58%, district —, state 43%58%
MaleMale: this school 62%, district 67%, state 42%62% · +4 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 55%, district 66%, state 44%55% · −4 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 61%, district 71%, state 56%61% · +3 vs school
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 48%, district 55%, state 32%48% · −10 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 51%, district 55%, state 32%51% · −8 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 37%, district 36%, state 15%37% · −22 vs school

7 of 14 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
ShowHide Student-group results by grade
Student-group results by grade

Results compare different grade groups in the same year, relative to the lowest tested grade. They do not track the same children over time. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 3.6pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +5.8pp.

ShowHide California's growth model by student group
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 elementary school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
English Only212 studentsEnglish Only, reading: +7 scale-score points versus expectation, against +3 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 212 students.+7 pts · +4 vs typical
White101 studentsWhite, reading: +4 scale-score points versus expectation, against +5 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 101 students.+4 pts · −1 vs typical
Low-income students96 studentsLow-income students, reading: +6 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 96 students.+6 pts · +6 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students89 studentsHispanic or Latino students, reading: 0 scale-score points versus expectation, against +1 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 89 students.0 pts · −1 vs typical
Students with disabilities50 studentsStudents with disabilities, reading: −1 scale-score points versus expectation, against −8 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 50 students.−1 pts · +7 vs typical
Math
English Only212 studentsEnglish Only, math: +12 scale-score points versus expectation, against +1 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 212 students.+12 pts · +11 vs typical
White101 studentsWhite, math: +16 scale-score points versus expectation, against +5 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 101 students.+16 pts · +11 vs typical
Low-income students96 studentsLow-income students, math: +7 scale-score points versus expectation, against −1 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 96 students.+7 pts · +8 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students89 studentsHispanic or Latino students, math: +7 scale-score points versus expectation, against −1 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 89 students.+7 pts · +8 vs typical
Students with disabilities50 studentsStudents with disabilities, math: +2 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California elementary school, 50 students.+2 pts · +7 vs typical
this school typical California elementary school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 4 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.

The daily experience

What is it like to be a student here?

Students per teacher

Student–teacher ratio is a schoolwide staffing measure, not an average class size.

The people teaching · CDE staffing 2024–25

About 30 students for every teacher here.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Students per teacher30 · district 27
Teaching staff20 teachers
Avg. experience20.3 years
Fully credentialed100%
PrincipalJayme Rutter
ShowHide what the district pays
Teacher salary schedule$53,873 – $113,895
Principal salaryFrom $160,482
Superintendent salary$278,687

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

Attendance & discipline · 2024–25

Kids here show up more, and get suspended less, than the state average.

TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (15.0% vs 8.3%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 9.3%, district 6.1%, state 17.9%9.3% · −8.6pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 0.9%, district —, state 1.6%0.9% · −0.8pp vs state
This schoolDistrictCalifornia
ShowHide attendance by student group and by grade
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–68.3%
TK/K15.0%

Resources & neighborhood

What sits behind the school experience?

Explore school spending and the district budget
What gets spent · FY 2024–25

It spends $15,340 per student, more than the California average.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

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

Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $15,340, CA average $14,491$15,340 · spent at this school
District current expense · FY 2024–25$15,563 per student
This schoolDistrictCalifornia
Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction 65%Instruction support 7%Student services 9%Administration 10%Buildings & maintenance 9%

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

ShowHide the district's spending year by year
district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$11,840 per pupil
2019$11,465 per pupil
2018$11,447 per pupil
2017$10,635 per pupil
2016$10,345 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood · ACS 2024

One in three of students here qualify for free or reduced lunch, versus three in five statewide.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Worth knowing

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 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Hispanic or Latino40.4% · district 39.3% · CA 56.1%
White42.1% · district 32.6% · CA 19.9%
Asian2.2% · district 9.4% · CA 10.2%
Black3.5% · district 3.4% · CA 4.8%
Other11.8% · district 15.3% · CA 9.0%
Free or reduced lunch39.2% · CA 64%
Median income$140K · CA $85K
Median home value$801K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+42% · CA 35%
ZIP population43,973
Median age38 years

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

Culture & philosophy

What is the school’s approach?

School-stated approach · questions for your visit

Look beyond the brochure

A source-reviewed culture summary is not available for this profile yet. Ask how teaching, student support and family communication work day to day.

Read the school’s own website ↗

Family voices

What would you want another family to know about the daily experience here?

Ask a current family: “When your child needs help, how does the school respond?”

Educator voices

What should families understand about teaching, support and the school community?

Ask an educator: “How do you adapt a typical day for children with different needs?”

Bring these questions on a visit →

Compare nearby schools

What are the alternatives?

Compare schools serving the same grade stage. Private schools have no comparable state-test score.

2025 · elementary schools · combined reading and math measures. Percentiles compare schools within their enrollment group.

Private options →
SchoolTypePerformance bandAdvancedProficient or AdvancedDistanceSelect
James Foster ElementaryPublicStrong37%61%School being viewed
Emblem AcademyPublicStrong51%77%1.6 mi
Tesoro del Valle ElementaryPublicStrong52%77%2.1 mi
Charles Helmers ElementaryPublicStrong52%75%1.8 mi
Open the comparison tool →
More nearby public and private options
Your other options

Your other options

Nearby public schools across grade levels, plus private options within 10 miles.

All schools in Saugus →

Private schools do not receive a Scope Score or statewide ranking on SchoolScope.

8 private schools within 10 miles
Not scored
What should I check before applying?
District public
Confirm the attendance boundary and any permit options.
Charter
Check applications, priorities and deadlines with each school.
Private
Confirm admission requirements, tuition and financial aid.

Moving & enrollment

Which schools could serve my child?

Check your address with the district

School location and nearby schools do not establish attendance eligibility. Confirm boundaries and permit requirements with Saugus Union.

District information →School website →

Schools across the K–12 journey

Schools are grouped by grade stage. Nearby schools are not confirmed feeder links or address assignments. Verify the current path and eligibility with the district.

Plan your next step

What should I do next?

Worth a school visit

  • Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
  • Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
  • 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.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is James Foster Elementary a good elementary school?
James Foster Elementary has a Scope Score of 51 out of 100, placing it in the 78th percentile of California elementary schools and ranked #1,273 statewide. 36.7% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 15.3 percentage points above the California average of 21.4%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for elementary schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 3-to-5 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 James Foster Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 60.7% of students at James Foster Elementary met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 36.7% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 24.0% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 36.7% went beyond it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it shows how many students go beyond the standard rather than only meeting it. 456 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does James Foster Elementary rank in California?
James Foster Elementary ranks #1,273 among California elementary schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 78th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G3 → 2025 G5), 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 James Foster Elementary getting better or worse?
SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At James Foster Elementary that cohort is 2023 G3 → 2025 G5, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks weak among California elementary schools — roughly the 36th 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 elementary 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 James Foster Elementary?
9.3% of students at James Foster Elementary are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 17.9%. The suspension rate is 0.9%, indicating a low-discipline-incident environment. 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 James Foster Elementary compare to other schools in Saugus?
James Foster Elementary scores 51/100 (78th percentile) among California elementary 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 508 students. Use the schools in Saugus page or the map view to compare all elementary schools nearby.
How does James Foster Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At James Foster Elementary in Saugus, 50.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 57.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. James Foster Elementary trails its district average for low-income students by 7.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (46.0% Math proficient); White students (61.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 28.4 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 124 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.

Use the published evidence to prepare questions, then verify fit and access with the school.

Behind the evidence

Inspect the full record

Public sources, visible methods and the underlying school record. Source years and limitations stay attached to the evidence.

How the Scope Score is calculated

On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to see the state comparison and weights.

What the score weighs · CAASPP 2024–25

How fast English learners gain fluency carries this score. The test levels clear the state's too.

36.4% of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.

The school's returning cohort — mostly, not exactly, the same kids two years on — gained 67 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.

What the score weighs
What we weighHereStateWeight
Exceeded standard36.7%21.4%42%
Met or exceeded60.7%42.7%23%
Growth (2023 G3 → 2025 G5)Weakaverage20%
Chronic absenteeism9.3%17.9%5%
Suspension rate0.9%1.6%5%
EL proficiency (ELPAC)36.4%18.0%5%

Source CAASPP 2025 · California Department of Education. Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How the score is built

A closer look at the evidence

James Foster Elementary: reading the evidence

James Foster has real strengths and one number that complicates them. Most rating sites show you one or the other. Both belong on the same page.

Subject proficiency describes tested students, while graduation describes a graduating cohort. These figures are not successive stages followed by the same students.

Ask whether the low absenteeism and suspension numbers come from what the school does or from the community it serves — both can produce the same numbers, and only a visit tells you which.

Explore the underlying data →
Every number: score factors, grades, student groups and downloads
Every number · For the data nerds

Every number on this page

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

James Foster Elementary is ranked #1,273 statewide · #10 of 14 in Saugus Union.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Score factors
FactorSchoolStateWeight
Exceeded standard36.7%21.4%42%
Met or exceeded60.7%42.7%23%
Growth (2023 G3 → 2025 G5)Weakaverage20%
Chronic absenteeism9.3%17.9%5%
Suspension rate0.9%1.6%5%
EL proficiency (ELPAC)36.4%18.0%5%
Exceeded standard
↑ vs CA 21.4% · index 65 · 50 = CA elementary-school midpoint
Met or exceeded
↑ vs CA 42.7% · index 64 · 50 = CA elementary-school midpoint
Growth (2023 G3 → 2025 G5)
↓ vs CA average · 36th pctile
Chronic absenteeism
↑ vs CA 17.9% · index 64 · 50 = CA elementary-school midpoint · ▲ 2.1pp higher vs 2024
Suspension rate
↑ vs CA 1.6% · index 56 · 50 = CA elementary-school midpoint · ▲ 0.7pp higher vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
↑ vs CA 18.0% · index 76 · 50 = CA elementary-school midpoint
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ShowHide table 02 — By grade & subgroup
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 37536%17%20%27%53%+10
Grade 46250%26%13%11%76%+31
Grade 59133%22%24%21%55%+7
Grade 68320%39%24%17%59%+13
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 37527%37%20%16%64%+19
Grade 46255%19%19%6%74%+33
Grade 59120%22%27%31%42%+7
Grade 68424%30%31%15%54%+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, that we hold no valid result for it, or that the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide9119%31%43%8%

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 Disadvantaged12450.0%−8+12
White13561.5%−10−0
Hispanic/Latino11952.9%−6+14
03Nearest elementary schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = one school's returning cohort tracked across grades (mostly, not exactly, the same kids), in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
James Foster Elementary ←—5136.7%60.7%−10.3pp+67 pts0.9%
Emblem Academy1.6 mi7150.9%76.9%+1.7pp—0.7%
Tesoro del Valle Elementary2.1 mi6851.8%76.6%+7.3pp—0.9%
Charles Helmers Elementary1.8 mi6751.7%75.4%−3.8pp—0.8%
California average—3921.4%42.7%−2.9pp—1.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
ShowHide table 04 — More measures
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
20194871#161227.5%56.0%8.1%0.3%-2.1pp
20225278#123928.3%59.0%16.7%0.3%-1.3pp
20235076#134225.8%58.5%11.2%0.1%-12.6pp
20244771#166729.7%57.3%7.2%0.1%-28.0pp
20255178#127336.7%60.7%9.3%0.9%-10.3pp
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
ShowHide table 05 — Climate by student group
Group20192025Δ
Female7.2%7.8%+0.6pp
Male8.5%9.6%+1.1pp
Asian0.0%8.3%+8.3pp
Black/African American0.0%5.0%+5.0pp
Filipino0.0%4.2%+4.2pp
Hispanic/Latino9.5%9.6%+0.1pp
Two or More Races14.3%6.1%-8.2pp
White8.0%9.3%+1.3pp
Students with Disabilities10.1%7.8%-2.3pp
English Learners5.4%16.0%+10.6pp
Homeless17.6%5.3%-12.3pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged17.2%11.7%-5.5pp
All Students7.9%8.7%+0.8pp
06California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
ShowHide table 06 — California growth model, by student group
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students+6233Accelerated+12233Accelerated
English Only+7212not categorised+12212not categorised
White+4101Average+16101Accelerated
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged+696Accelerated+796Accelerated
Hispanic or Latino089Average+789Accelerated
Students with Disabilities−150Average+250Average
Two or More Races+1818Accelerated+1018Accelerated
English Learner+217Average+117Average
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only+414not categorised+614not categorised
Filipino+3111Exceptional+1911Accelerated

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. 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=5,721 elementary schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-09-18

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James Foster Elementary

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