This year’s state test scores provided a mixed send-off for the education legacy of Gov. Gavin Newsom, with incremental gains in English and math, but results that continue to fall short of prepandemic achievement levels.
A clear marker of this mixed picture is English language arts: The percent of students scoring proficient or advanced increased by 0.5 of a percentage point to 49.3%. But that was nearly 2 percentage points below the prepandemic tests of 2019. At this pace of improvement, it would take about four more years — or about a decade — to surpass the prepandemic scores.
And, even before the pandemic, about half of the state’s students were not achieving the state’s learning goals.
The gain in math was better, 1.1 percentage points, but only 38.4% of students scored as proficient or better. Math scores would virtually catch up to prepandemic levels by next year at the current pace.
The gain in science, a relatively new test, was better still, a strong increase of 3.3 percentage points, but that brings the proficiency rate to just 36% of students.
Locally, Los Angeles Unified and Compton Unified remained bright spots, with significant sustained gains that continue their surge past prepandemic levels.
Newsom, in a statement, was looking on the glass-half-full side of the ledger.
“These results provide important evidence that our sustained investments are making a difference,” Newsom said. He listed some of those efforts, which include a new grade of school, transitional kindergarten for 4-year-olds; free school meals for all; and community schools, which provide services for students and families beyond academics.
“California is working to ensure students have the resources they need to thrive,” Newsom said. “The continued progress we are seeing is a testament to the hard work of students, families, and educators across the state.”
Newsom also has forwarded record state funding to school systems, although not as much as advocates say the law requires him to provide. That issue is being litigated.
Leaders say more, faster progress needed
A more measured summation was offered by Tony Thurmond, the outgoing state superintendent of public instruction.
“California has made important strides in expanding student supports and opportunities, but the pace of academic improvement reminds us that our work is far from finished,” Thurmond said.
State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond also emphasized the need for more progress, while calling attention to notable gains by African American students, Latino students, students from low-income families and students experiencing homelessness.
Black students, for example, made larger-than-average improvements across English, math and science and showed English scoring gains across almost every tested grade. But that still leaves the proficiency rates for Black students at 33.7% for English, 21.5% for math and 20.5% for science. Achievement gaps ranging from about 28 to 49 percentage points still separate them from white and Asian students.
Another area of incremental progress is the percentage of students who are chronically absent, meaning they miss at least 10% of school. The rate of chronic absenteeism was 18.3% of students, approaching 1 in 5 students — an improvement of 1.1 percentage points. But the rate in 2016-17 was 10.8%.
Bragging rights for Compton and LAUSD
Scores at Compton Unified and L.A. Unified are outperforming those of the state, with higher proficiency rates in key categories.
In math, Compton students show a 46.5% proficiency rate, up 5.4 percentage points. L.A. Unified students are at 39.7% proficiency, up 3 percentage points. Both are higher than the state’s 38.4% proficiency rate.
In English, 53.8% of Compton students are proficient or better, up 2.8 percentage points from last year. LAUSD is at 48.3%. The state rate is 49.3%.
But for nearly every subset of students, LAUSD scores above the state average for the same group.
Blacks students in Compton and L.A. Unified also showed gains and are significantly higher than the state scores:
- English: Compton 48.7%, LAUSD 37.6%, state 33.7%.
- Math: Compton 40.7%, LAUSD 27.6%, state 21.5%.
This year, Compton’s Black students gained 4.4 percentage points in English and 6.4 in math, compared with Black students statewide at 0.9 and 1.5.
The positive picture was similar for Latino students:
- English: Compton 54.8%, LAUSD 43%, state 39.6%.
- Math: Compton 47.6%, LAUSD 33.7%, state 27%.
How state school superintendent candidates’ districts fared
This year, the candidates for state superintendent of public instruction are presidents of their local board of education. Both of their districts have some bragging points.
Republican Sonja Shaw leads Chino Valley Unified, a school district of about 26,000 in San Bernardino County. This school system has consistently scored higher than the state average and showed less pandemic learning loss than many other districts. Since Shaw joined the board in 2022, the district has continued to score above state averages.
Democrat Richard Barrera has been a San Diego Unified board member since 2008 and currently works as a senior advisor to Thurmond. San Diego compares favorably with other large urban school systems, although its competitors would point out that it has fewer students from low-income families than many large urban systems. San Diego’s English score declined this year, after a gain the previous year.
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