California test scores decline: See how your school compares
California's Department of Education released statewide student test scores that show most students did not meet math and English standards this year.
Monday's release shows the pandemic's toll on students' learning. Statewide, students meeting the standard for English dropped by 4% (51% to 47%), and for math, it fell by 7% (40% to 33%).
The state has made test scores available to the public. To find out how your school compares, click HERE.
The local school districts have been working to address the learning gap caused by the pandemic. See their statements below:
"Students in Desert Sands Unified, like students across the state, were impacted academically by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is evidenced by the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) results released today. Results show that the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standard in English Language Arts declined by 9.2% since 2019 and 10.6% in mathematics. 2022 CAASPP results are a new baseline in this post pandemic era. Our priority is to provide high quality instruction, needed intervention, as well as opportunities and resources for our students to improve and excel."
Desert Sands Unified School District
The superintendent of Palm Springs Unified School District also provided a statement:
"I am so proud of our staff, students and families as they have worked to overcome the unprecedented challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has created. The recent release of the 2021-2022 test results create a new baseline level for the district following the pandemic. Improvement will take time with additional supports in place and adjustments to meet changing student needs. I am confident that the team at PSUSD will continue to work meet to meet needs of our students and families following the pandemic. Although the 2021-2022 academic year included a full return to in-person instruction it is clear that the effects of the pandemic and school closures impacted student learning and test results. PSUSD continues our work on improved student performance through the implementation of high-quality learning opportunities, targeted academic supports addressing the individual needs of students, and strong systems to support the social-emotional and mental health needs of students."
PSUSD Superintendent Mike Swize
News Channel 3 has reached out to Coachella Valley Unified School District but has yet to hear back.
Local tutor Cathy Bray runs Education Connection in Palm Desert. She’s seen firsthand what the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) measurements now show. In the last two years:
"I saw a lot more activity because I think parents knew that their student was going to be behind," said Bray. " I talked to parents, and they're in tears sometimes, like, what am I going to do?"
She encourages parents to get involved and stay hopeful improvement will come over time.
"I think tutoring really does help the students, the one on one really makes a difference. And I know that the schools offer different things after school for the kids," said Bray. "As long as the parents have patience, that teachers have patience, the administrators have patience, we're going to get there, it's just a matter of time."
California test scores decline; racial disparities remain
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Most California students did not meet standards in math and English this year, state officials announced Monday in another example of test scores continuing to fall after the pandemic — including notable declines for Black and Latino children.
Two out of three California students did not meet state math standards, and more than half did not meet English standards, the Los Angeles Times reported. The numbers were worse for students of color, as 84% of Black students and 79% of Latino students did not meet math standards in 2022.
The test scores highlighted the widespread impacts of the pandemic, with traditionally underserved students facing the biggest challenges.
Math and reading scores have dropped significantly across the country since the pandemic. For California, the numbers underscore what was already troubling trend before the pandemic, when 60% of students were testing below grade level in math and nearly half in English.
"It is fair for people to be concerned about the experience that kids have had," California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond told the newspaper in an interview. "But we also had 99,000 Californians who lost their lives to COVID. and we did the things that we felt we needed to do to save lives. … Now is our time to focus on how we accelerate the students' recovery."
State officials said the latest data contained some "hopeful signs." The Department of Education compared scores of students who took the tests in 2020-21 to those same students who took the tests this year and found "steeper-than-normal achievement gains at most grade levels."
Thurmond noted the state is phasing-in a plan to send all 4-year-olds to public school and also spent $250 million on things like reading coaches and other specialists.
Still, Republicans lamented the lack of progress, blaming Democrats who control state government.
"These test scores reflect the current state of education in California. We are failing students in the most important subjects," said James Gallagher, the Republican leader in the state Assembly. "This is just another example of Democrat mismanagement, and our kids are suffering for it."
Results of a national assessment showed setbacks for most of the country, including California. But California's scores did not decline as much as the national average.
"While California's students experienced less learning loss than those in most other states during the pandemic, these results are not a celebration but a call to action — students are struggling academically and we need to keep getting them the resources they need to thrive," California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
