Summary:
This analysis examines four elementary schools in Altadena, California, serving grades K-8, which present a mix of traditional public, magnet, and charter options across three different districts, with notable variations in performance and resources.
Odyssey Charter stands out as the top performer, achieving test scores well above state averages in all subjects and ranking in the 88th percentile statewide, while also having the lowest rate of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. OCS - South also performs strongly, with the best student-teacher ratio, though it has a surprisingly high chronic absenteeism rate. The two schools in the Pasadena Unified district, Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilingual Magnet Elementary and Altadena Elementary, have lower test scores and state rankings but spend significantly more per student than the higher-performing charter schools.
Key takeaways for parents include a clear performance gap between the charter and traditional public schools in the area, with the higher-performing schools coinciding with lower economic need among their student populations. Interestingly, higher per-student spending does not correlate with better academic results in this group. Altadena Elementary has shown notable recent improvement, and all schools face a common challenge of a drop in math proficiency in 5th grade.
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