Is Birney Elementary a good school?

Birney Elementary ranks 2813 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Birney Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 496 students attended Birney Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Birney Elementary?

Students at Birney Elementary are 57% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 14% African American, 6% Two or more races, 4% White, 2% Pacific Islander.

What schools do graduates of Birney Elementary attend?

Students who attend Birney Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Hughes Middle High : Polytechnic High

Birney Elementary

Summary:

Birney Elementary is a public elementary school in Long Beach, California, serving 485 students in grades K-5. It is part of the Long Beach Unified School District, which is ranked 654 out of 1,568 school districts in the state.

Birney Elementary faces several academic challenges. Its proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are generally lower than the district and state averages. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 31.17% of 3rd-grade students and 52.86% of 4th-grade students were proficient in English Language Arts, compared to the district's 47.76% to 50.81% and the state's 42.8% to 47.37%. The school has also experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 13.6% in 2018-2019 to 47.6% in 2021-2022, which is notably higher than the rates at nearby Longfellow Elementary and Signal Hill Elementary.

Birney Elementary's challenges may be linked to its high concentration of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 65.15% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, significantly higher than the 34.2% and 35.08% rates at Longfellow Elementary and Los Cerritos Elementary, respectively. The school's performance for English Language Learners and Special Education students also suggests a need for targeted interventions and support. By addressing these issues and learning from the successes of nearby higher-performing schools, Birney Elementary can work to improve the educational outcomes for its students.

Detail:

Public K-5

710 West Spring St.
Long Beach, CA 90806-1413

(562) 427-8512

District: Long Beach Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
2813^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $9,406

Students who attend Birney Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Hughes Middle
High:	Polytechnic High

Student/teacher ratio: 21.6

Number of students: 496

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

57.5%

Asian:

16.3%

African American:

13.5%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 67.3%

See top rated California elementary schools

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Birney Elementary ranks better than 52% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 29^th among 53 ranked elementary schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 45.71. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at Birney Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (57.5%), Asian (16.3%), African American (13.5%). (See more...)

Compare Details 67.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Birney Elementary is 21.6, which is the 4^th best among 53 elementary schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Birney Elementary employs 22.9 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Birney Elementary is $9,406, which is the 14^th highest among 53 elementary schools in the Long Beach Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Birney Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Birney Elementary 2813^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Birney Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Long Beach Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Long Beach Unified 654^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Birney Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	52.53	2034^th	4809	57.7%
2005	41.23	2646^th	4822	45.1%
2006	49.72	2208^th	4818	54.2%
2007	55.98	2022^nd	5113	60.5%
2008	58.20	1937^th	5113	62.1%
2009	49.66	2512^th	5193	51.6%
2010	43.59	2945^th	5314	44.6%
2011	52.64	2441^st	5377	54.6%
2012	44.16	2993^rd	5390	44.5%
2013	44.62	3036^th	5530	45.1%
2015	33.57	3432^nd	5611	38.8%
2016	35.25	3392^nd	5614	39.6%
2017	35.66	3398^th	5692	40.3%
2018	49.77	2577^th	5662	54.5%
2019	51.82	2505^th	5789	56.7%
2021	38.83	800^th	1417	43.5%
2022	56.67	2201^st	5883	62.6%
2023	54.73	2296^th	5874	60.9%
2024	45.71	2813^th	5862	52.0%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	36.90	1937^th	3246	40.3%
2023	35.77	2100^th	3250	35.4%
2024	26.48	2767^th	3160	12.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	26.77	1806^th	2420	25.4%
2024	24.45	2141^st	2634	18.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	62.75	1588^th	5084	68.8%
2019	63.65	1533^rd	5173	70.4%
2021	51.45	462^nd	1110	58.4%
2022	69.35	1201^st	5264	77.2%
2023	69.96	1236^th	5374	77.0%
2024	53.96	2116^th	5511	61.6%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	92.22	16^th	356	95.5%
2023	79.28	37^th	336	89.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	44.37	2815^th	5413	48.0%
2019	52.56	2362^nd	5492	57.0%
2021	36.35	754^th	1267	40.5%
2022	51.50	2345^th	5635	58.4%
2023	59.67	1964^th	5617	65.0%
2024	51.27	2358^th	5605	57.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	32.73	1314^th	2128	38.3%
2019	60.41	720^th	2585	72.1%
2021	29.15	191^st	293	34.8%
2022	43.26	980^th	2227	56.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	54.00	2224^th	5431	59.0%
2019	49.67	2473^rd	5510	55.1%
2021	40.98	685^th	1272	46.1%
2022	60.37	1941^st	5663	65.7%
2023	48.87	2518^th	5650	55.4%
2024	40.59	3024^th	5636	46.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	66.21	173^rd	700	75.3%
2019	71.55	151^st	747	79.8%
2022	46.18	295^th	663	55.5%
2024	76.10	96^th	593	83.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Birney Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	49.43	2260^th	4830	53.2%
2019	56.30	1889^th	4963	61.9%
2022	60.36	1625^th	5084	68.0%
2023	61.59	1572^nd	5098	69.2%
2024	48.42	2378^th	5102	53.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Birney Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	189	131	136	100	4	n/a	n/a	0	560
1989	185	110	155	117	0	n/a	n/a	0	567
1990	135	146	167	138	2	n/a	n/a	0	588
1991	128	160	172	134	2	n/a	n/a	0	596
1992	131	153	164	174	6	n/a	n/a	0	628
1993	128	174	185	205	3	n/a	n/a	0	695
1994	104	197	194	214	3	n/a	n/a	0	712
1995	70	212	208	254	3	n/a	n/a	0	747
1996	70	212	208	254	3	n/a	n/a	0	747
1997	75	222	219	289	5	n/a	n/a	0	810
1998	68	241	198	314	5	n/a	n/a	0	826
1999	49	231	227	335	6	n/a	n/a	0	848
2000	58	226	211	348	5	n/a	n/a	0	848
2001	61	234	222	391	4	n/a	n/a	0	912
2002	49	228	224	400	0	n/a	n/a	0	901
2003	49	228	224	400	0	n/a	n/a	0	901
2004	54	207	218	376	1	n/a	n/a	0	856
2005	47	216	213	339	1	n/a	n/a	0	816
2006	41	189	207	318	2	n/a	n/a	3	760
2007	33	184	193	297	2	n/a	n/a	5	714
2008	40	151	180	306	1	n/a	n/a	0	678
2009	39	142	162	311	1	24	3	0	682
2010	39	120	170	298	3	16	2	0	648
2011	44	111	162	310	3	21	6	0	657
2012	44	131	148	310	2	16	37	0	688
2013	40	110	151	318	2	18	48	0	687
2014	39	118	129	328	0	19	50	0	683
2015	30	134	126	328	0	15	53	0	686
2016	24	140	121	334	0	19	52	0	690
2017	20	122	123	333	1	13	55	0	667
2018	24	108	120	317	0	12	46	0	627
2019	15	126	118	309	0	18	35	0	621
2020	17	108	106	297	0	19	37	0	584
2021	20	93	112	287	0	16	30	0	558
2022	24	71	95	273	1	15	23	0	502
2023	18	62	80	288	0	14	23	0	485
2024	21	67	81	285	0	10	32	0	496

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Birney Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	560	21.0	26.6	n/a
1989	567	21.0	27.0	n/a
1990	588	22.0	26.7	n/a
1991	596	22.0	27.0	n/a
1992	628	22.4	28.0	56.7
1993	695	26.0	26.7	52.5
1994	712	26.0	27.4	68
1995	747	31.5	23.7	72.6
1996	747	31.5	23.7	72.6
1997	810	42.6	19.0	71.1
1998	826	38.0	21.7	76.3
1999	848	38.0	22.3	76.8
2000	848	42.5	20.0	67.9
2001	912	46.0	19.8	74.1
2002	901	46.0	19.6	73.6
2003	901	46.0	19.6	73.6
2004	856	44.0	19.5	67.8
2005	816	45.0	18.1	68.3
2006	760	37.5	20.3	73.7
2007	714	36.0	19.8	71.9
2008	678	40.0	17.0	71.2
2009	682	33.0	18.5	74.5
2010	648	36.0	18.0	70.8
2011	657	n/a	n/a	74.1
2012	688	27.0	25.4	n/a
2013	687	25.0	27.4	73.8
2014	683	26.0	26.2	74.4
2015	686	27.0	25.4	78.1
2016	690	26.0	26.5	75.8
2017	667	26.5	25.1	76.9
2018	627	26.7	23.4	78
2019	621	27.0	23.0	78.1
2020	584	n/a	n/a	77.6
2021	558	22.6	24.6	74.6
2022	502	22.0	22.8	64.3
2023	485	21.0	23.0	65.2
2024	496	22.9	21.6	67.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Birney Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	560	21.0	26.6	n/a
1989	567	21.0	27.0	n/a
1990	588	22.0	26.7	n/a
1991	596	22.0	27.0	n/a
1992	628	22.4	28.0	56.7
1993	695	26.0	26.7	52.5
1994	712	26.0	27.4	68
1995	747	31.5	23.7	72.6
1996	747	31.5	23.7	72.6
1997	810	42.6	19.0	71.1
1998	826	38.0	21.7	76.3
1999	848	38.0	22.3	76.8
2000	848	42.5	20.0	67.9
2001	912	46.0	19.8	74.1
2002	901	46.0	19.6	73.6
2003	901	46.0	19.6	73.6
2004	856	44.0	19.5	67.8
2005	816	45.0	18.1	68.3
2006	760	37.5	20.3	73.7
2007	714	36.0	19.8	71.9
2008	678	40.0	17.0	71.2
2009	682	33.0	18.5	74.5
2010	648	36.0	18.0	70.8
2011	657	n/a	n/a	74.1
2012	688	27.0	25.4	n/a
2013	687	25.0	27.4	73.8
2014	683	26.0	26.2	74.4
2015	686	27.0	25.4	78.1
2016	690	26.0	26.5	75.8
2017	667	26.5	25.1	76.9
2018	627	26.7	23.4	78
2019	621	27.0	23.0	78.1
2020	584	n/a	n/a	77.6
2021	558	22.6	24.6	74.6
2022	502	22.0	22.8	64.3
2023	485	21.0	23.0	65.2
2024	496	22.9	21.6	67.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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