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Standard Middle · BakersfieldPublic

Standard Middle: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.

Standard posts low test scores — and test scores are one lens among several. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.

126 Ferguson Avenue, 93308 (opens in new tab)·Standard Elementary·Bakersfield·Grades 6-8·1,005 students·90% low-income·2024–25 CAASPP·(661) 392-2130
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope1338
% Exceeded3%17%
% Met+16%39%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Weak · p29Average · p50
Absence33.2%18.5%
Suspension10.6%3.7%
Scope Score
13
🌱 Building Momentum · Needs Support
ranked #2,172 statewide

Standard Middle scores 13 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 3rd percentile of 2,238 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →

🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.

Most rating sites would stop at “16% proficient” and call it done. Standard deserves a closer read. The school sits in Bakersfield, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 2,238 middle schools statewide

Has stayed near the 3rd percentile since 2019.

ELAOrange(Increased Significantly)MathRed(Maintained)

Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 16% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 622%24%16%16%23%
Grade 725%32%30%18%22%
Grade 821%19%27%15%19%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 69%8%7%8%10%
Grade 712%12%12%12%14%
Grade 87%4%12%9%8%

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

19%
76%
Grade 6 · 24% proficient
18%
77%
Grade 7 · 23% proficient
15%
81%
Grade 8 · 19% proficient

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
3.4%
State 16.8%
13.4pp below state avg
Met or exceeded
16.1%
State 39.3%
23.2pp below state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Weak
State average
The same students gained 29 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.
Chronic absenteeism
33.2%
State 18.5%
14.6pp above state avg
Suspension rate
10.6%
State 3.7%
6.9pp above state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
13.3%
State 18.0%
4.7pp below state avg

California's own answer to the same question

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 29th percentile of California middle schools; the state's puts it around the 11th in reading and math together — a harder 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.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measuresame cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 29th percentile among California middle schools.29th pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: −13 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 12th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.12th pctile · −13 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: −16 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 10th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.10th pctile · −16 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

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 middle school lands at −1 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −8 and +6 — 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.

Worth a school visit

Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.

  • Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
  • Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
  • Ask what changes between grade 6 and grade 8 here, and who teaches the older kids.
  • 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 Standard Middle in Bakersfield, 20.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 23.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Standard Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 3.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (19.4% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 18.7 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 863 students tested.

All students at this school: 16% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 16%, district —, state 39%16%
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 15%, district 19%, state 32%15% · −1 vs school
MaleMale: this school 16%, district 19%, state 42%16% · −0 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 15%, district 18%, state 32%15% · −2 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 16%, district 21%, state 44%16% · +0 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 19%, district 23%, state 56%19% · +3 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 5%, district 5%, state 15%5% · −11 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 2%, district 4%, state 11%2% · −15 vs school
Black/African AmericanBlack/African American: this school 11%, district 14%, state 26%11% · −6 vs school
HomelessHomeless: this school 10%, district 15%, state 22%10% · −7 vs school
Two or More RacesTwo or More Races: this school 18%, district 20%, state 56%18% · +2 vs school

6 of 17 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

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 falls by 4.0pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: -4.0pp.

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 middle school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
Low-income students775 studentsLow-income students, reading: −14 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 775 students.−14 pts · −11 vs typical
English Only697 studentsEnglish Only, reading: −13 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 697 students.−13 pts · −13 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students443 studentsHispanic or Latino students, reading: −16 scale-score points versus expectation, against −2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 443 students.−16 pts · −14 vs typical
White338 studentsWhite, reading: −12 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 338 students.−12 pts · −12 vs typical
Students with disabilities120 studentsStudents with disabilities, reading: −21 scale-score points versus expectation, against −13 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 120 students.−21 pts · −8 vs typical
Math
Low-income students773 studentsLow-income students, math: −17 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 773 students.−17 pts · −12 vs typical
English Only694 studentsEnglish Only, math: −14 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 694 students.−14 pts · −11 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students444 studentsHispanic or Latino students, math: −18 scale-score points versus expectation, against −6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 444 students.−18 pts · −12 vs typical
White337 studentsWhite, math: −13 scale-score points versus expectation, against +1 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 337 students.−13 pts · −14 vs typical
Students with disabilities118 studentsStudents with disabilities, math: −4 scale-score points versus expectation, against −8 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 118 students.−4 pts · +4 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 1 more group is 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.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 33.2%, district 31.9%, state 18.5%33.2% · +14.6pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 10.6%, district —, state 3.7%10.6% · +6.9pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–629.0%
Grades 7–835.6%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path

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

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Student : teacherStudent to teacher ratio: this school 21:1, district 21:121:1
Teaching staff51 teachers
Avg. experience12.1 years
Fully credentialed65%
First-year teachers12%
Intern / emergency permit4.2%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$56,701 – $117,168
Principal salaryFrom $129,557
Superintendent salary$224,487

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $15,879, CA average $14,491$15,879 · spent at this school

These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.

Federal share$668 per student

$668 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$19,706 per student

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

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction59%
Instruction support10%
Student services14%
Administration7%
Buildings & maintenance11%

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

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$13,332 per pupil
2019$11,624 per pupil
2018$11,448 per pupil
2017$10,468 per pupil
2016$10,166 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Hispanic50.6%
District 50.0% · CA 56.1%
White39.7%
District 41.2% · CA 19.9%
Black5.2%
District 4.6% · CA 4.8%
Other3.9%
District 3.8% · CA 9.0%
Asian0.6%
District 0.4% · CA 10.2%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 89.8% (26pp above CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$62K · CA $85K
Median home value$323K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+18% · CA 35%
ZIP population55,078
Median age38 years

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

Worth Knowing

On the state's science test (CAST), 15% 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.

Frequently asked questions

Is Standard Middle a good middle school?

Standard Middle has a Scope Score of 13 out of 100, placing it in the 3rd percentile of California middle schools and ranked #2,172 statewide. 3.4% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 13.4 percentage points below the California average of 16.8%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 6-to-8 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 Standard Middle's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 16.1% of students at Standard Middle met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 3.4% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 12.7% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 3.4% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 1,920 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Standard Middle rank in California?

Standard Middle ranks #2,172 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 3rd percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8), 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 Standard Middle getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Standard Middle that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks weak among California middle schools — roughly the 29th 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 middle 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 Standard Middle?

33.2% of students at Standard Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 18.5%. The suspension rate is 10.6%. 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 Standard Middle compare to other schools in Bakersfield?

Standard Middle scores 13/100 (3rd percentile) among California middle 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 1,005 students. Use the schools in Bakersfield page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Standard Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Standard Middle in Bakersfield, 20.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 23.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Standard Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 3.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (19.4% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 18.7 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 863 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.

Your other options

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.


For the data nerds

Every number on this page

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

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 42%
3.4%
↓ vs CA 16.8% · 35th pctile
Met or exceeded · 23%
16.1%
↓ vs CA 39.3% · 31th pctile
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Weak
↓ vs CA average · 29th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
33.2%
↓ vs CA 18.5% · 30th pctile
▼ 5.2pp lower vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
10.6%
↓ vs CA 3.7% · 22th pctile
▼ 3.3pp lower vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
13.3%
↓ vs CA 18.0% · 39th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 63315%19%29%48%23%−23
Grade 73255%18%22%56%22%−25
Grade 83074%15%27%54%19%−27
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 63302%8%21%69%10%−24
Grade 73224%10%24%62%14%−20
Grade 83052%7%21%71%8%−24

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, no valid result was published, or the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide3053%12%60%24%

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 Disadvantaged86320.4%−3−18
Hispanic/Latino49619.4%−3−19
White37525.3%−3−36
03Nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = the same students tracked across grades, in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
Standard Middle ←133.4%16.1%−3.1pp+29 pts10.6%
Washington Middle2.4 mi152.9%12.8%−4.1pp4.9%
California average3816.8%39.3%+1.5pp3.7%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
2019133#19422.5%15.9%23.8%10.9%-2.0pp
2022123#20893.1%16.7%66.8%9.7%-4.6pp
2023136#20534.0%17.4%45.7%13.6%+7.3pp
2024101#21932.7%12.9%38.4%13.8%+0.2pp
2025133#21723.4%16.1%33.2%10.6%-3.1pp
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
What we can't show
  • — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 18 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female21.6%33.4%+11.8pp
Male26.3%33.4%+7.1pp
Black/African American21.4%43.1%+21.7pp
Hispanic/Latino21.0%30.4%+9.4pp
American Indian/Alaska Native36.4%
Two or More Races30.4%33.3%+2.9pp
Students with Disabilities35.5%41.4%+5.9pp
English Learners16.3%27.6%+11.3pp
Foster Youth21.4%31.3%+9.9pp
Homeless48.3%56.9%+8.6pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged25.6%34.8%+9.2pp
All Students24.0%33.4%+9.4pp
11California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students−13859Moderate−16857Moderate
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged−14775Moderate−17773Moderate
English Only−13697not categorised−14694not categorised
Hispanic or Latino−16443Moderate−18444Moderate
White−12338Moderate−13337Moderate
Students with Disabilities−21120Minimal−4118Average
English Learner−15115Moderate−19116Moderate
English Learners Only−2371not categorised−972not categorised
Long-Term English Learner (grades 6-8 only)−1061Moderate−261Average
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only−244not categorised−3144not categorised
Homeless Youth−3640Minimal−1640Moderate
Black or African American−1838Moderate−1037Moderate
Two or More Races−1725Moderate−724Moderate

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. Long-Term English Learner counts cover grades 6-8 only (CDE), so that row is not comparable to the All Students row. 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=2,238 middle schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

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