California, MD schools
California’s public schools score above Maryland’s averages: 38% of students are proficient in reading against 35.5% statewide, and 92% of high schoolers graduate on time against 86.7%.
Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.
California’s School Grade: B+
The public schools California’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 68% of Maryland’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Maryland’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Maryland only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Maryland with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
Above the state in reading
92% graduate on time
The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years. #42 of 258 MD towns →
The district serving California
Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Colleges near California
There’s no college in California, but 1 college is within 30 miles. The closest is St. Mary's College of Maryland in St. Mary's City, 8.3 miles away.
Straight-line distance from the center of California. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus. Colleges marked › have their own page; the others are too small or don’t report enough to the Department of Education for one.
All 4 schools in California
School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.