Information about Schools in California

Search by school name, district, and/or zip code

• California Department of Education provides access to test scores, enrollment statistics, and other information about specific schools plus California curriculum frameworks and additional important material. More information is available about public schools than private schools. Favorite databases from this agency that provide school-level information include:
  • California Public School Profiles and Reports (part of the larger Ed-Data site).
  • Dataquest. Interactive site allows the user to locate information such as the dropout rate for a specific public high school, English learners by language and grade, special education data, as well as test and other performance results for public schools in California. Easy to use menus and a description of what is available via Dataquest.
  • California School Directory. Includes public, private, and charter schools. If the California site is busy, try Search for Schools, Colleges, and Libraries, a National Center for Education Statistics site which is similar but covers the entire United States.
• Compare Schools (School Wise Press) also presents some of the data available from the state about specific schools, but with a different search interface. GreatSchools.net can also be used.
• RAND California Education Statistics is a database menu that is part of the larger RAND California site. (Oviatt Library subscription; not available to all users). Much of the data comes from the state and other government sources. An online training exercise for RAND California Statistics is available.
• California High School and California Community College Academic Performance Reports. California State University (CSU) system provides, for each California high school and community college that sends five or more students to the CSU system, an Academic Performance Report tailored especially for that institution. These reports, accessible by county name and then school name, present summary information on the academic performance of students in their first year at the CSU and comparison data.

Specific school or school district websites

• Tip: California School Districts with Web Servers and Ed-Data's School Profiles and Reports make it easy to find California school district websites such as: Los Angeles Unified School District. In addition to reports issued by the district, school web sites may be listed at a district's website.

Additional sources to compare a California school or school district to others

• Common Core of Data, a program of the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, is a comprehensive, annual, national statistical database of information concerning all public elementary and secondary schools (approximately 91,000) and school districts (approximately 16,000).
• Finding Statistics about Education. This research guide may help you find national or other statistics to which you can compare data you have located or collected about a specific school.

Finding information about the community in which a school is located

• Community Information by Zip Code
• Los Angeles Government Sources. The statistics section of this subject guide includes many sources of data about the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.
• Finding Census 2000 Data by Zip Code
• Finding Census Tract Data on the Internet, a guide to finding recent decennial Census of Population and Housing data for small geographic areas. (Census tracts are usually smaller than zip codes).
• San Fernando Valley Statistics and Facts

Created and maintained by Mary M. Finley
Questions or comments: mary.finley@csun.edu
Links checked 25 April 2008