Arizona Middle, Riverside CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Arizona Middle

Arizona Middle is a regular middle school serving grades six through eight in Riverside. The enrollment is small to mid-sized for the grade band, with roughly equal cohorts in each grade. Nearly all students come from low-income households, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of Black, White, and Asian students. The school sits in a zip code where housing values are moderate for Southern California and rents are stable, though the cost of homeownership remains high relative to household income in the area.

On state testing, Arizona Middle shows uneven performance across subjects and grades. In English Language Arts, proficiency improves from the sixth to eighth grades, with eighth graders at close to halfway proficient while sixth graders are a bit lower. Math proficiency is weaker across all three grades, ranging from one-fifth to roughly one-third of students meeting standards, with seventh grade notably the lowest point. Eighth-grade science proficiency sits near one-quarter of students. When averaged across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among districts in Riverside County, a meaningful indicator that despite modest raw proficiency levels, Arizona Middle is performing above the median for its county peer group.

The most recent data for social studies comes from a legacy state assessment from more than a decade ago and does not reflect current performance. English Language Learner enrollment data and special education enrollment data were not available in the school's records. Parent questions about these student populations may warrant direct contact with the school.

In the broader district context, Alvord Unified approved Measure J, a general obligation bond, in November 2022. The measure funds facility upgrades, safety improvements, technology updates, and new career program construction across district schools. This represents a lasting property tax commitment for homeowners in the district, a factor families relocating to the area may want to understand when weighing their move.

Arizona Middle serves a student population with substantial economic need and academic support requirements. The school's strength relative to its county context suggests that instruction and resource deployment are functioning above the regional norm, even as absolute proficiency rates point to room for growth, particularly in mathematics. For a family considering the school, the key questions involve whether this peer environment and the support level the school provides align with their child's learning needs and whether they are comfortable with the district's long-term infrastructure investment financed through local property taxes.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 721%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 23% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 37% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 36% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 41% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 21% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 53% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

This schoolAlvord Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income32%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income43%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income45%Higher-income60%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income32%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income20%Higher-income29%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income51%23 pp gap