How does Octavia E. Butler Magnet compare to other middle schools in Pasadena?

Octavia E. Butler Magnet has a Scope Score of 34.8/100, ranked #1227 among California middle schools. 13% of students exceed standard, with a total of 961 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Octavia E. Butler Magnet?

13.2% of students at Octavia E. Butler Magnet exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 29.9% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Octavia E. Butler Magnet improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Octavia E. Butler Magnet's proficiency rate decreases by 9.8 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 Octavia E. Butler Magnet?

24.9% of students at Octavia E. Butler Magnet are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days). This metric reflects school culture and family engagement, and is weighted at 15% in the Scope Score.

Octavia E. Butler Magnet

Middle School

Pasadena Unified PasadenaLos Angeles County91103Magnet Program

📍 1505 North Marengo Avenue

Magnet program — a specialized public school with a focused theme (STEM, arts, language immersion, etc.). Admission is typically through a district lottery, not based on neighborhood attendance boundaries. Students from across the district may apply.

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

Building Momentum

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Scope 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

519 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

19:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

82%

Teachers

27 full-time

Dashboard indicators

How this school's scores changed from last year to this year

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased Significantly

+29.2 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased Significantly

+21.5 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

11.5%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 78 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic78.6%

White9.1%

Asian0.2%

Black8.9%

Other3.3%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Octavia E. Butler Magnet
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	13.2%
Met Standard	16.7%
Below Standard	70.1%

Score Factors

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 13.2%

4.1pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 29.9%

9.6pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Growth (G6→G8): -9.8pp

Scores decline across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 24.9%

5.6pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 29.9%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 5.0%

0.9pp above state avg (state avg 4.1%)

10% weight

Unlike traditional school ratings, we show our work. Every factor, its weight, and how this school compares to the state average — so you can decide what matters most to your family. The middle school Scope Score is weighted across 6 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "30% proficient" for Octavia E. Butler Magnet and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

13.2% of students exceeded standard while 16.7% met it. That exceeded rate is 4.1 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 8.3 points below the Pasadena Unified district average of 21.5%. Compared to the 1 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 5.8 points higher (vs 7.3% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 9.8 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 increased significantly and Math increased significantly year-over-year. 11.5% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 24.9%, above the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

13.2%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

29.9%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-9.8pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

24.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

5.0%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

961

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

How proficiency compares across grade levels this year (different students, same test year)

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	157	19.8%	19.8%	21.7%	38.9%	39.5%
7th	141	10.6%	30.5%	19.9%	39.0%	41.1%
8th	185	11.3%	20.0%	19.5%	49.2%	31.4%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	156	19.9%	10.3%	21.1%	48.7%	30.1%
7th	140	6.4%	12.1%	23.6%	57.9%	18.6%
8th	182	11.0%	7.7%	14.3%	67.0%	18.7%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Madison Elementary

20.4# in state

Also serves area

Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilin…Magnet

52.9# in state

Washington Elementary STEM Mag…Magnet

31.1# in state

▼

Middle

Octavia E. Butler MagnetMagnet

34.8# in state

This school

▼

High School

John Muir High

52.6# in state

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