Test scores jump in San Diego, across state, but students still catching up post-pandemic

A classroom at Birney Elementary School in the San Diego Unified School District File photo courtesy of SDUSD This story was originally published by CalMatters Sign up for their newsletters California s K- students are emerging from the pandemic malaise posting the the majority major academic improvements in years according to new state test scores The Smarter Balanced standardized test results show increases for almost every candidate group and every grade in every subject Particular of the biggest improvements were among students who have struggled the largest part This is good news we love to see this kind of improvement noted Lupita Cortez Alcal executive director of Agenda Analysis for California Development a nonpartisan research organization It shows that the state s investments in candidate mental strength and other initiatives are working In English language arts of students scored high enough to be considered proficient or advanced of students were in math according to information published Thursday Those numbers both represent a percentage-point increase from last year By comparison English language scores dropped a full point and math scores fell nearly points after the pandemic and hadn t budged much since then In San Diego Unified th grade English language arts scores rose points with math improving points th grade students improved points in ELA and points in ath In - science scores jumped percentage points to the biggest jump since California launched ambitious new science standards a decade ago Until this year scores had been stagnant due to the pandemic and slow rollout of the Next Generation Science Standards which focus on hands-on projects and interactive multidisciplinary lessons Coaching representatives attributed the surge in scores to a host of initiatives that sprung from the pandemic era but are just now beginning to show results on a large scale Among them public schools a billion effort to bring mental wellness healthcare and social services to schools a billion expansion of youth mental soundness services at schools and elsewhere the rollout of transitional kindergarten to all -year-olds expanded summer and after-school programs universal school meals and the gradual shift to a phonics-based reading curriculum Much of the funding for those programs has been through one-time federal and state grants The federal money has either expired or is in jeopardy due to President Donald Trump s cuts to teaching but Gov Gavin Newsom has so far kept bulk of the state funding intact Certain continuing struggles The scores weren t all good news Students have not quite rebounded from pandemic-related learning losses During the COVID- pandemic when schools were closed for more than a year in most of of the state students fell behind academically and generally disengaged from school Attendance though just now improved has been a persistent matter for the majority districts The test scores reflect that English language arts scores still lag nearly three percentage points below pre-pandemic scores and math scores are nearly points behind The gaps between Black and Latino and white and Asian students narrowed a bit but gaps between low-income and wealthier students widened in all subjects While it s certainly encouraging to see overall increases in test scores it s unacceptable that the achievement gap has widened declared Jessica Sawko training director at the research and advocacy organization Children Now The persistent and widening gap must be addressed as a matter of urgency Nearly of California s students are low-income and schools get extra money to serve them The state requirements to hold schools accountable for how well they re educating low-income students Sawko noted Results for English learners who took the English Language Proficiency Assessment were mostly unchanged from last year Bulk school districts like San Diego saw improvements including Los Angeles Unified which saw big gains in all subjects English language arts scores jumped almost percentage points and math scores rose nearly points The district explained those were the biggest test amount increases ever Compton Unified in Los Angeles County also saw a few of the largest gains in the state English language arts scores soared percentage points and math scores jumped points Both scores far surpassed the state averages Superintendent Darin Brawley credited the improvements on a district-wide focus on content and accountability Teachers regularly test the students so they re able to pinpoint who necessities extra help The district also has invested heavily in tutoring I m very very pleased with our scores but I m not surprised Brawley reported We work very hard to align our curriculum to the assessments and make sure our students know what to expect By the time the state assessment comes around nothing is a surprise to them CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable