Jacobsen Middle, Tehachapi CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Jacobsen Middle

Jacobsen Middle is a public school serving grades 6 through 8 in Tehachapi, a small town in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills where aerospace workers, technical contractors, and agricultural families establish roots. The school sits on a separate campus at the edge of town rather than in the historic downtown, serving a diverse cohort that reflects both the town's longtime residential base and its newer suburban growth.

The enrollment is stable and mid-sized for a middle school, with roughly equal representation across the three grade levels. Just under half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially and ethnically, the school is roughly split between white students and Hispanic students, with smaller numbers of Asian, Native Hawaiian, American Indian, Black, and multiracial students. State testing data did not include counts for English learners or students on individualized education plans, so those details remain unavailable.

The academic picture is sobering. On California's state tests in English language arts and mathematics, Jacobsen's proficiency rates across all three grades sit substantially below typical performance benchmarks. Grade 6 math proficiency is at the lower end, grade 7 math is slightly higher but still low, and grade 8 math drops again. In ELA, grade 6 shows modest proficiency, grade 7 shows the highest attainment at roughly two in five students, and grade 8 falls back to near grade 6 levels. Grade 8 science proficiency, the only science data available at the middle grades, is similarly low. The most recent multi-year trend data covers only a single year, so a parent cannot yet see whether performance is moving. When positioned against other districts in Kern County, Jacobsen's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint, which reflects the county's own academic challenges rather than any particular strength.

The school serves a town with a functional, lived-in downtown and expanding suburban residential edges. Tehachapi describes itself as one of California's fastest-growing small towns, with new housing developments like K. Hovnanian's Tehachapi Hills project opening near Warrior Park and Tompkins Elementary. The area mixes corrections, renewable energy, aerospace, and agricultural employment. Housing in the ZIP code sits in the middle range regionally, with median values stable year over year and rents rising modestly. A parent exploring the school should anticipate that academic preparation at Jacobsen is below typical state benchmarks and may want to discuss with the school what interventions are in place and what additional support might be needed at home.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 19%

▼ 11 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 26%

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

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 25%

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

Social studies

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 51%

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

This schoolTehachapi 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-income15%Higher-income36%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income49%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income18%Higher-income34%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income7%Higher-income23%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income10%Higher-income27%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income11%Higher-income23%12 pp gap