FUSD SBAC results are in!
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This week, the California Department of Education publicly released the results of the 2023-24 state assessments (SBAC, CAST, and ELPAC). These results can help us better understand where schools across the district are showing progress and identify areas in need of greater support and improvement. We know that any single assessment cannot fully capture a student’s learning over the course of a year or overall academic standing. However, this annual assessment data is vital for exploring trends in what is working and what is not, and can serve as a catalyst for meaningful conversation and collective action.
Today, we are sharing a first glimpse into the data, pulling out the trends across the district. We will dive deeper into this data in our upcoming Kids First and Forward Together data reports.
A few key data points from our district:
SBAC results
ELA results- small increase, two years in a row
In English Language Arts (ELA) the percentage of students who are on grade level (“meeting or exceeding standards”) increased by 1.5 percentage point to 34.7%, after a 1 percentage-point increase the year before that. It is heartening to see increases two years in a row. However, the district is still 3 percentage points below its 2019 (pre-COVID) scores, indicating that learning recovery is still needed.
When broken down by student group, we see continuing equity gaps in student outcomes. Results show that approximately 1 in 5 Black or African American students are on grade level for ELA, and 1 in 10 English learners and students with disabilities. Most student groups are performing below their counterparts statewide, a trend that is true for students overall in the district as well.
These results underscore the urgency of the district’s “Every Child is a Reader” literacy campaign launched last year. Continuing to build on this plan, including actively partnering with families around it, will be important so that literacy growth can continue and accelerate.
Math results increase by 2 percentage points for second year in a row
In math, the percentage of students on grade level (“meeting or exceeding standards”) increased by 2 percentage points for the second year in a row, to 25.1%. These results are still 5 percentage points below the 2019 pre-COVID rate. In a year where statewide results were largely flat, this does represent a narrowing of the gap between FUSD results and statewide averages. Overall, approximately 1 in 4 students in FUSD are on grade level for math.
Broken down by student group, we see similar equity gaps, with Black or African American students, English learners, and students with disabilities all much less likely to be scoring on grade level than the overall FUSD rate.
Interim Superintendent Misty Her commented about the overall SBAC results in EdSource: “We didn’t decrease, but [the increase, overall] wasn’t significant… it wasn’t great; it wasn’t what we wanted, but it’s better than dropping.” In a time when many districts tend to sugar-coat their results, it is refreshing to see a superintendent reflecting so honestly about the data– yes it’s an increase, but ultimately we would like to see student outcomes increase significantly more. Thus far in her tenure as interim superintendent, Her has shown leadership in setting clear and ambitious improvement goals for the district and has made data-informed decision-making a priority.
ELPAC results
The state also released the results for the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). This test is taken every spring by all English learner students, and is one of the key data points required for reclassification. Students must score a 4 out of 4 in order to reclassify (and must also satisfy 3 other criteria). The percentage of EL students scoring at level 4 decreased by 2 percentage points this year to 9.5%. This means that at most 9.5% of English learners are eligible for reclassification this year, a number that is likely to be lower due to the other criteria needed as well. These results, combined with the EL students’ results on the ELA and Math SBAC, underscore the importance of providing and improving targeted support and services for our English learners.
Next Steps
GO’s next step will be to take a deeper look at this data, along with key take-aways and action steps, in our 2024 Kids First student data report, which will be released in December. In this report, we will examine differences in outcomes by student groups (e.g., by race/ethnicity and economic, language, and disability statuses), by school site, and looking at trends over time.
In addition, our upcoming Forward Together: A Parent’s Guide to Reclassification will provide detailed English Learner data and actionable tips for supporting EL students and their families through the reclassification process. Forward Together will be released in November.
Our goal is for these reports to anchor conversations and action grounded in a shared understanding of what is currently true in our schools and across our district. When we collectively understand where we are, we can work together to create a plan for where we want to go.