How does Martin Luther King Middle compare to other middle schools in Berkeley?

Martin Luther King Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 61.0/100, placing it at the 89th percentile statewide. 40% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,684 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Martin Luther King Middle?

40.1% of students at Martin Luther King Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 69.1% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Martin Luther King Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Martin Luther King Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 0.1 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 Martin Luther King Middle?

12.9% of students at Martin Luther King 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.

Martin Luther King Middle

Middle School

Berkeley Unified BerkeleyAlameda County94703

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

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

866 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

20:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

28%

Teachers

44 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

-1.3 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

-0.1 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

27.1%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 59 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic16.9%

White47.2%

Asian8.7%

Black11.4%

Other15.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Martin Luther King Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	40.1%
Met Standard	29.0%
Below Standard	30.9%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "69% proficient" for Martin Luther King Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

40.1% of students exceeded standard while 29.0% met it. That exceeded rate is 22.8 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 2.8 points below the Berkeley Unified district average of 42.9%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 39.6% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 0.1 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. 27.1% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 12.9%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

40.1%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

69.1%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-0.1pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

12.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

2.7%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,684

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	269	34.2%	38.3%	15.6%	11.9%	72.5%
7th	269	42.4%	30.5%	14.1%	13.0%	72.9%
8th	300	39.7%	32.0%	14.0%	14.3%	71.7%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	273	40.7%	24.5%	19.8%	15.0%	65.2%
7th	271	39.1%	27.3%	15.5%	18.1%	66.4%
8th	302	44.7%	21.2%	17.2%	16.9%	65.9%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Sylvia Mendez Elementary

58.080th pctile

Malcolm X Elementary

57.279th pctile

Oxford Elementary at West Camp…

67.091st pctile

Thousand Oaks Elementary

61.885th pctile

Washington Elementary

63.988th pctile

Rosa Parks Environmental Scien…

Also serves area

Berkeley Arts Magnet at Whitti…

72.096th pctile

▼

Middle

Martin Luther King Middle

61.089th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Berkeley High

73.794th pctile

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