The California Department of Education released test scores yesterday for the 2016-2017 school year. These are the scores from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) exam, and they help us to see how schools are serving students and whether or not they are preparing students for college and job opportunities.
For most of the state, scores did not improve.
Matt Hammer, CEO of Innovate Public Schools released this statement in response:
We are very concerned that districts in the Bay Area and statewide have made practically no progress in improving learning for students of color. Statewide, six out of 10 Latinos and African American kids are not on grade level in English. Those numbers are even lower for math – with more than seven out of 10 Latino kids and eight out of 10 African American kids not on grade level. It’s staggering to think that most of these kids will not be prepared for college and will have so few job options in their life.
Any parent looking at these numbers is justifiably alarmed. We hope education leaders are filled with the same sense of urgency and alarm as parents with children in school right now. Parents want to know what their local schools are going to do about this. We need local leaders who will own this, make this a top priority and take immediate action.
Read more:
Edsource: Scores flat in 3rd year of California’s Smarter Balanced tests
Mercury News: 2017 California school test scores: Why are they flatlining?