Best High Schools in California for Special Education Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in California!

Every year, the California Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Special Education students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2024)
ID	Rank (of 1534)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (Special Education)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Special Education)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)
060162000029	1	Whitney (Gretchen) High	Public	7-12	16800 Shoemaker Ave.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7745	1,010	39	25.8	29.8%	39 (3.9%)	19 (1.9%)	111 (11.0%)	799 (79.1%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	37 (3.7%)	$6,926							99.9%	100.0%	0.02%
063315013103	2	Riverside STEM Academy	Public	5-12	4466 Mt.Vernon Ave.	Riverside	92507	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7308	669	25	26.8	47.2%	169 (25.3%)	26 (3.9%)	281 (42.0%)	151 (22.6%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	39 (5.8%)	$7,377							99.9%	98.5%	1.38%
060176611314	3	Renaissance Arts Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2558 North San Fernando Rd.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Renaissance Arts Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 259-5700	454	28	16.3	64.5%	114 (25.1%)	37 (8.1%)	239 (52.6%)	47 (10.4%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)								99.8%	97.9%	1.91%
063438011396	4	Canyon Crest Academy	Public	9-12	5951 Village Center Loop Rd.	San Diego	92130	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 350-0253	2,336	85	27.3	11.0%	947 (40.5%)	12 (0.5%)	199 (8.5%)	980 (42.0%)	1 (0.0%)	2 (0.1%)	183 (7.8%)	$6,606							99.7%	99.5%	0.26%
063033004731	5	Piedmont High	Public	9-12	800 Magnolia Ave.	Piedmont	94611	Alameda County	Piedmont City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 594-2626	763	48	15.9	3.7%	443 (58.1%)	13 (1.7%)	74 (9.7%)	106 (13.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	126 (16.5%)	$11,864							99.7%	99.4%	0.28%
061443001698	6	Lynbrook High	Public	9-12	1280 Johnson Ave.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Fremont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 366-7700	1,741	75	23.1	4.4%	120 (6.9%)	5 (0.3%)	64 (3.7%)	1,390 (79.8%)	2 (0.1%)	6 (0.3%)	154 (8.8%)								99.6%	99.6%	0.04%
060232413774	7	Design Technical High	Public, Charter	9-12	275 Oracle Pkwy.	Redwood City	94065	San Mateo County	Design Technical High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 231-2701	545	24	22.8	6.1%	232 (42.6%)	4 (0.7%)	77 (14.1%)	147 (27.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	80 (14.7%)								99.5%	97.2%	2.38%
062937004530	8	Pacific Grove High	Public	9-12	615 Sunset Dr.	Pacific Grove	93950	Monterey County	Pacific Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 646-6590	547	36	15.2	15.2%	331 (60.5%)	12 (2.2%)	99 (18.1%)	61 (11.2%)	6 (1.1%)	5 (0.9%)	31 (5.7%)	$10,747							99.5%	98.7%	0.81%
060193814237	9	Trivium Charter School Voyage	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4597 Hollister Dr.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Trivium Charter School Voyage District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 291-1303	297	16	18.2	18.2%	208 (70.0%)	2 (0.7%)	42 (14.1%)	10 (3.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (11.1%)								99.4%	87.8%	11.60%
060202211873	10	Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	777 Aileen St.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 384-1415	583	24	24	21.4%	292 (50.1%)	7 (1.2%)	141 (24.2%)	79 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	62 (10.6%)								99.3%	98.8%	0.51%

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on CAST Science, Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.