California students are performing better academically; Large gaps still remain for disadvantaged

The California Department of Education (CDE) announced today that K–12 students across the state are making significant strides in their academic performance, particularly in closing equity gaps for socioeconomically disadvantaged students, Black/African American students, and Hispanic/Latino students.

The results, which encompass data from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC), reveal an overall increase in the percentages of students meeting or exceeding standards in English language arts/literacy (ELA), mathematics, and science. Notably, the percentage of students achieving these standards rose from 46.7% to 47.0% in ELA, 34.6% to 35.5% in mathematics, and 30.2% to 30.7% in science.

Despite an increase in the proportion of high-need students—growing from 63% to 65%, or more than 60,000 additional students—the performance of socioeconomically disadvantaged students has improved. Specifically, the percentage of these students meeting or exceeding standards increased by 1.5 percentage points in ELA, 2.1 points in mathematics, and 1.4 points in science.

the performance of socioeconomically disadvantaged students has improved.Photo byCDE