More than 3.2 million third- through eighth-graders took the online tests, which are based on more rigorous Common Core academic standards that stress critical thinking, problem solving and preparing students for the real world. In math, 25 percent exceeded the standard and 23 percent met it, while 26 percent almost met it and 27 percent failed to meet the standard. Those scores were up over a year ago by three percentage points and two percentage points, respectively, but the gains failed to keep up with improvements made by Asian American and white students. Those numbers were all slight improvements over previous year.
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When scores were sorted based on household income, the achievement gap was apparent in Davis.
In math, 21 percent of county students exceeded the standard, up from 18 percent a year ago, while 23 percent met the standard and 28 percent almost met it – compared to 22 percent and 28 percent, respectively, from 2015.
This compares to much higher scores of 45 percent scoring “standard exceeded”, 35 percent scoring “standard met”, 14 percent scoring “standard almost met” and 6 percent scoring “standard not met” for students from “not economically disadvantaged households”, in the area of English language arts.
In Orange County, 57 percent reached the top two tiers in English, a 4-percentage point increase from 2015 – while the math inched up from 28 to 31 percent.
A continuing concern is the lower scores of students from low-income families, English learners and black and Latino students, Torlakson said.
“We’re making progress in several areas”, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenn Young said. As we dig deeper into the data, it is also apparent that this varies from grade level to grade level.
Each parent of a student who was tested was supposed to receive a report in the mail, explaining what the scores mean and where their child ranked relative to his or her peers. The Temecula Valley Unified School District had the highest state test scores in Riverside County in 2016.
In Los Angeles County, 18 percent of the more than 770,000 students who took the tests exceeded the state standard in English, up from 15 percent a year ago. In math, 17 percent exceeded the standard, while 20 percent met it and 28 percent almost met it and 35 percent failed to meet it. The achievement gap was evident when statewide scores were sorted based on economic status and ethnicity.
“Of course there’s more work to do, but our system has momentum”, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement.
Noting “there’s more work to do”, Torlakson urged business, political and community leaders to “continue supporting increased standards and resources for schools”.
In the nearby Woodland school district – which has a different demographic mix in terms of household income, ethnicity and parent education level as compared to Davis – test scores were closer to the statewide average than to Davis’ scores.
In the Poway Unified School District, 3 percent – or more than 800 students – moved into the category of achieving standards in English Language Arts.
San Francisco’s overall scores reflect the district’s large Asian American enrollment, a subgroup with significantly more students reaching or exceeding standards.
The Smarter Balanced Assessments results showed that 14 percent of the district’s students exceeded the state standard in English, and 25 percent met it, up from 10 percent and 23 percent, respectively, in 2015.
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In Orange County, students performed significantly better, with 27 percent exceeding the standard in English and 30 percent meeting it, 21 percent almost meeting it and 22 percent failing to meet it.
