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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Walter Stiern Middle this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
891
Middle
DISTRICT 731 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BAKERSFIELD CITY·NCES 060363002021
Walter Stiern Middle
2551 Morning Dr., Bakersfield, CA 93306 · (661) 631-5480 · Kern County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL891 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 6% of California public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public middle schools
Student : Teacher
21.5:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.3:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
81%
726 students
DISTRICT 88% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 268 | 30% |
| Grade 7 | 255 | 29% |
| Grade 8 | 368 | 41% |
Student demographics
21%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
22.6%
CA avg 49.1% . -6.4pp since 2014
Math
9.5%
CA avg 37.7% . -7.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 23 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 9 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 6 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 4.8% | 17.8% | 27.2% | 50.2% |
| Math | 1.9% | 7.6% | 23.1% | 67.5% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 22.6% | 9.5% |
| 2023-24 | 23.9% | 9.9% |
| 2022-23 | 27.6% | 11.7% |
| 2021-22 | 23.5% | 8.5% |
| 2018-19 | 32.5% | 17.9% |
| 2017-18 | 32.9% | 18.6% |
| 2016-17 | 34.2% | 20.2% |
| 2015-16 | 27.0% | 18.0% |
| 2014-15 | 29.0% | 17.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
16.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.8%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 16% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 32% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Walter Stiern Middle
Walter Stiern Middle's state test result (16.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Stiern Middle this school | 891 | 81.5% | 16.3% |
| Desert Ridge Academy Indio | 962 | 81.5% | 22.7% |
| Los Banos Junior High Los Banos | 938 | 84.3% | 25.2% |
| E. O. Green Junior High Oxnard | 949 | 81.5% | 20.8% |
| Los Alisos Middle Norwalk | 920 | 78.2% | 34.9% |
| Creekside Junior High Los Banos | 812 | 84.6% | 19.1% |
Matched among California middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Walter Stiern Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Kern County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.3% | #1,121 of 1,224 | #39 of 46 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 9.5% | #1,152 of 1,227 ▼ 33 | #38 of 46 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 22.6% | #1,130 of 1,227 ▼ 48 | #41 of 46 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.0pp | #839 of 1,214 | #31 of 46 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 891 | #312 of 1,377 | #8 of 48 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.5:1 | #712 of 1,279 | #33 of 46 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 21.3% | #1,038 of 1,278 | #34 of 46 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 81.5% | #506 of 1,329 | #29 of 46 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.8% | #411 of 930 | #9 of 28 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
891
-116 (-12%) vs 2020
-30% since 2000-01, when it was 1,264
Student : Teacher
21.5:1
was 23.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 891 | 41.5 | 21.5:1 | 81% (726) |
| 2023-24 | 783 | 36.3 | 21.6:1 | 92% (718) |
| 2022-23 | 659 | 35.7 | 18.5:1 | 86% (567) |
| 2020-21 | 1,007 | 43 | 23.4:1 | 96% (969) |
| 2017-18 | 1,084 | 41.9 | 25.9:1 | 93% (1,012) |
| 2015-16 | 1,035 | 43 | 24.1:1 | 92% (954) |
| 2010-11 | 1,350 | N/A | N/A | 91% (1,227) |
| 2000-01 | 1,264 | 57 | 22.2:1 | 89% (1,124) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Walter Stiern Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (1,084 to 891); teachers down 1% (41.9 to 41.5).
About Walter Stiern Middle
Walter Stiern Middle is a medium-sized middle school serving families in Bakersfield, California. The school's enrollment of 891 students covers grades 6 through 8. Enrollment is 35% higher than the average for middle schools in California, which is about 659.
The Bakersfield City system has 44 schools and 28,365 students.
Hispanic students make up 88% of enrollment at Walter Stiern Middle. Smaller groups are 7% White and 4% Black. For comparison, the population of Kern County is roughly 57% Hispanic. The school's diversity index is 21%, meaning two students picked at random have a 21% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Its 41.5 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 21.5:1. This ratio sits 0.8 above the 20.7:1 average for middle schools in California. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 81%.
Walter Stiern Middle is graded D by allk12, scoring above 6% of California public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Walter Stiern Middle scores 15.5 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 16.3% actual versus 31.8% predicted. That puts it in the bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations.
Walter Stiern Middle is located in Kern County, where the median household income is $70,210, roughly 19% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 15%. Walter Stiern Middle is one of 279 public schools in the county.
Nearest public school: Hort Elementary, about 0.3 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Walter Stiern Middle is 9th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Rural: Fringe.
2024-25 enrollment was 891, a 12% decrease from 1,007 in 2020-21. The ratio was 23.4:1 in 2020-21 and 21.5:1 in 2024-25.
To ask about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Kern County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
915,075
Census ACS
Median income
$70,210
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
279
197,431 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bakersfield City
- Curran MiddleMiddle · 973 students
- Colonel Howard Nichols ElementaryElementary · 960 students
- Voorhies ElementaryElementary · 915 students
- Horace Mann ElementaryElementary · 870 students
- Bessie E. Owens ElementaryElementary · 867 students
- Dr. Juliet Thorner ElementaryElementary · 813 students
Other schools in Bakersfield
- Bakersfield HighHigh · 3,069 students
- Ridgeview HighHigh · 2,575 students
- Highland HighHigh · 2,530 students
- Stockdale HighHigh · 2,398 students
- Liberty HighHigh · 2,369 students
- East Bakersfield HighHigh · 2,331 students
Nearby schools
- Hort Elementary0.3 mi · 590
- Voorhies Elementary1.0 mi · 915
- Foothill High1.2 mi · 2,043
- Paul L. Cato Middle1.2 mi · 694
- Dr. Douglas K. Fletcher Elementary1.2 mi · 705
- Orangewood Elementary1.4 mi · 617
Frequently asked questions
About Walter Stiern MiddleWhat is the total enrollment at Walter Stiern Middle?
Walter Stiern Middle enrolls approximately 891 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Walter Stiern Middle serve?
Walter Stiern Middle serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Walter Stiern Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Walter Stiern Middle is approximately 21.5:1 (41 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Walter Stiern Middle?
At Walter Stiern Middle, the student body is approximately 7% White, 88% Hispanic, 4% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Walter Stiern Middle?
Walter Stiern Middle is overseen by Bakersfield City in Kern County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.