McDowell Elementary
School overview
Student demographics
Performance breakdown
| Category | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Exceeded Standard | 5.3% |
| Met Standard | 10.4% |
| Below Standard | 84.3% |
What other rankings don't show you
Most rating sites report "16% proficient" for McDowell Elementary and stop there. Here's what that number hides:
5.3% of students exceeded standard while 10.4% merely met it. That exceeded rate is 15.6 points below the state average of 21.0%. That's 11.7 points below the Petaluma City Elementary district average of 17.0%. The 13 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 23.7% exceeded — 18.3 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" is the difference between a school that clears the bar and one that raises it.
Students here improve by 5.6 percentage points from grade 3 to grade 5, suggesting the school is adding value beyond what students arrive with.
Chronic absenteeism is 23.5%, above the state average of 18.7%.
Key metrics
ELA scores by grade
| Grade | Tested | Exceeded | Met | Met+Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 39 | 0.0% | 5.1% | 5.1% |
| 4th | 42 | 4.8% | 9.5% | 14.3% |
| 5th | 33 | 6.1% | 15.2% | 21.2% |
| 6th | 41 | 9.8% | 24.4% | 34.1% |
Math scores by grade
| Grade | Tested | Exceeded | Met | Met+Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 41 | 7.3% | 9.8% | 17.1% |
| 4th | 48 | 4.2% | 6.3% | 10.4% |
| 5th | 33 | 6.1% | 6.1% | 12.1% |
| 6th | 43 | 4.7% | 7.0% | 11.6% |
Nearby schools
13 schools within ~3 miles · avg composite 48.6