Martin Luther King Elementary, Compton CA

Original Research by School Decision on Martin Luther King Elementary

Martin Luther King Elementary sits in Compton, an urban city in southern Los Angeles County shaped by manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing. The school serves a small enrollment of students across kindergarten through sixth grade, drawn almost entirely from the surrounding neighborhood. Almost all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black enrollment and very small numbers of students from other backgrounds. The specific counts of students with disabilities or who are English learners were not available in the data.

Academically, the school's proficiency picture is mixed across subjects and grades. In English language arts, results vary considerably by grade: third and fourth graders show stronger proficiency, with students reaching proficient level at rates around the midpoint. Fifth grade performance drops noticeably, but sixth grade rebounds. In mathematics, proficiency is lower overall, with third grade the strongest and fifth grade the weakest. Science proficiency in fifth grade was particularly low. The school's overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades places it below the midpoint among the schools in Los Angeles County that served comparable grade ranges and were measured on similar assessments. Only one year of data was available, so trend information was not present.

The school is part of Compton Unified, which has pursued substantial recent facilities investment and curriculum expansion. The district opened a new Compton High School campus in August 2025 funded by a prior bond measure, and launched a new P-TECH high school, the Compton Academy of Technology and Innovation, also in August 2025, offering dual enrollment toward an associate degree in fields like biotechnology and cybersecurity. In June 2026, voters approved a new bond measure to fund additional facilities, including a new Dominguez High School. These represent lasting property-tax obligations for families buying or renting in the district. While such bonds fund major infrastructure, they carry ongoing levies that are part of the housing affordability calculation in Compton, where median household income remains below levels needed to afford newly constructed units without cost burden.

Martin Luther King Elementary's setting reflects the broader Compton context: a dense urban neighborhood with modest walkability away from downtown and transit hubs, dominated by mid-20th-century housing stock and apartment complexes. The light-rail transit center at Compton station and nearby bus routes provide regional access. A parent choosing this school would be selecting a small, neighborhood-based elementary serving a high-poverty student body with room to investigate with the school itself where instructional priorities lie and what additional supports exist, especially in mathematics and science.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 58% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 46% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 33% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 44% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 50% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 45% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 50% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 21% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

This schoolCompton 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.