Whaley Middle: High scores, healthy climate, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Whaley posts 20.1% exceeding the standard — versus 16.8% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56 | 20% | 47% | -4.9 | 4.3% | 0.5% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Whaley Middle scores 56 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 81st 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 →
🤝 Culture First — 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.
Most rating sites would stop at “47% proficient” and call it done. Whaley deserves a closer read. The school sits in Compton, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +4.9pp separates this year's grade 6 from its grade 8. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. Following the same students from 2023 G6 → 2025 G8 points the same way.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 25th to the 81st percentile since 2019 — past roughly 1100 middle schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 47% of students meet the standard today, above the 32% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 39% | 28% | 32% | 24% | 46% |
| Grade 7 | 30% | 42% | 37% | 30% | 45% |
| Grade 8 | 30% | 25% | 51% | 29% | 45% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 39% | 24% | 31% | 38% | 60% |
| Grade 7 | 18% | 14% | 23% | 26% | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 32% | 23% | 25% | 19% | 51% |
The story this school is actually telling
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 10.3pp across grades; the proficiency floor barely moves. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At Whaley Middle in Compton, 44.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 50.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Whaley Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 5.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (47.7% Math proficient); Hispanic students (45.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 37.5 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 368 students tested.
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 3.6pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +2.1pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$1,623 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
At 429 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California middle school (≈860).
On the state's science test (CAST), 15% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Whaley Middle a good middle school?
What are Whaley Middle's CAASPP test scores?
How does Whaley Middle rank in California?
Is Whaley Middle getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Whaley Middle?
How does Whaley Middle compare to other schools in Compton?
How does Whaley Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 53
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 63
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 100 | 18% | 28% | 33% | 21% | 46% | −1 |
| Grade 7 | 137 | 10% | 35% | 26% | 29% | 45% | −2 |
| Grade 8 | 155 | 8% | 37% | 28% | 26% | 45% | −1 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 100 | 38% | 22% | 22% | 18% | 60% | +25 |
| Grade 7 | 136 | 13% | 21% | 23% | 43% | 34% | −0 |
| Grade 8 | 155 | 34% | 17% | 16% | 33% | 51% | +19 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 153 | 3% | 12% | 67% | 18% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 368 | 44.8% | −6 | +7 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 342 | 45.6% | −7 | +7 |
| English Learners | 88 | 8.0% | −8 | −2 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whaley Middle ← | — | 56 | 20.1% | 46.9% | −4.9 | 0.5% |
| Willowbrook Middle | 1.5 mi | 68 | 45.2% | 77.8% | −0.8 | 2.9% |
| Bunche Middle | 2.5 mi | 48 | 13.1% | 36.1% | +6.2 | 0.2% |
| Bridges Preparatory Academy | 1.6 mi | 43 | 8.8% | 28.1% | +10.4 | 0.9% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 30 | 25 | #1501 | 11.8% | 31.5% | 13.8% | 1.8% | -7.9pp |
| 2022 | 31 | 36 | #1393 | 6.6% | 26.1% | 10.2% | 0.3% | -1.9pp |
| 2023 | 45 | 59 | #888 | 10.6% | 33.3% | 9.9% | 0.6% | +6.9pp |
| 2024 | 33 | 39 | #1356 | 8.0% | 27.7% | 6.5% | 0.3% | -6.8pp |
| 2025 | 56 | 81 | #415 | 20.1% | 46.9% | 4.3% | 0.5% | -4.9pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 15.4% | 4.4% | -11.0pp |
| Male | 12.4% | 3.0% | -9.4pp |
| Black/African American | 18.3% | 3.8% | -14.5pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 13.6% | 3.7% | -9.9pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 23.6% | 9.0% | -14.6pp |
| English Learners | 15.0% | 5.1% | -9.9pp |
| Homeless | 35.0% | 6.3% | -28.7pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 14.2% | 3.8% | -10.4pp |
| All Students | 13.8% | 3.7% | -10.1pp |
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