In the News: State Tests Only a ‘Snapshot’

State test scores showed a dip in academic performance following the pandemic but San Mateo County education officials say they’ve found areas to be proud of while holding out for more clearer results from next year’s test.

 

San Mateo County students outperformed state averages overall with 49% of students meeting math skills and 58.8% meeting English Language Arts benchmarks but scores still fell about 2% to 3% from 2019 results.

 

And outcomes among the county’s Black and Latino students saw a greater decline of 10% compared to 2019, 4% greater than the state average for the same ethnic groups. Meanwhile, Asian students in the county saw a slight improvement and students with disabilities showed no change.

“The data validates the challenges educators in our district — and seemingly many districts — are facing to assist students in mitigating learning loss. It is something we will continue to pay close attention to and work to further address, equitably,” said Dr. Shawnterra Moore, superintendent of the South San Francisco Unified School District.

 

But education officials have cautioned the public from drawing too many conclusions from the data. Burlingame School District Superintendent Chris Mount-Benites said the state test, known as the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress or CAASPP, is only a “snapshot in time,” and noted the spring 2022 test was the first administered universally in two years. The state paused its testing requirement in spring of 2021 but students could voluntarily take the test.

 

Diego Ochoa, San Mateo-Foster City School District superintendent, agreed with Mount-Benites, both noting the 2022-23 school year is also the first time students will be back on campus with fewer COVID-19 restrictions.

 

“Kids missed a lot of the year during the pandemic. When they came down with COVID, they were out of school for sometimes up to 15 days. That’s a long time to be out of class,” Ochoa said. “The situation is much different now. Our attendance is up countywide, our teacher and staff are acclimated to being back on campus.”

 

Though only a few months into the new school year, Mount-Benites said this fall is proving to be less contentious between teachers, administrators and parents, students are missing fewer days of class and everyone appears to have a general thirst for being on campus.

The more positive atmosphere is more conducive to learning given that there seem to be fewer distractions in and out of the classroom.

 

“People are really thirsty to re-engage,” Mount-Benites said. “This year feels really good. It feels and looks and behaves more like regular school.”

 

Still, the results are still indicative of how the pandemic, with distance learning and other classroom modifications, hindered education.

 

When comparing 2022 results to 2019, about 1.3% fewer SSFUSD students met or exceeded standards in ELA while 5.4% fewer students met or exceeded math standards, Moore said in an email. About 4% fewer San Mateo-Foster City School District students met ELA standards with 58% hitting benchmarks in 2022 and 52% of students hitting math standards the same year, down 3%.

 

And in the Burlingame School District, about 76% of students met ELA standards, down 4% from 2019, and 69% met math standards, a change of nearly 10%. Those numbers were worse for students from socioeconomically disadvantaged students. About 50% of Burlingame School District students were not meeting ELA skills and more than 60% were not meeting math standards.

 

Alternatively, Sequoia Unified School District saw less of an impact on student performance between 2019 and 2021. While ELA scores rose by about 1%, math scores fell by 2%, Superintendent Dr. Darnise Williams noted in a statement.

 

“The results indicate that our efforts to support student learning during the pandemic paid off and our students’ performance is similar to the pre-pandemic time. These results are not as surprising given the hard work and effort of all of our staff and faculty,” Williams said.

Officials are also turning more to internal assessments to gather a much more thorough picture of how students are learning. BSD just recently adopted updated internal assessments, said Marla Silversmith, assistant superintendent of Education Services. Through those screenings, educators are able to determine whether a student needs more temporary one-on-one assistance, something that was more difficult to do when remote, Mount-Benites said.

 

“The difficulty with distance learning is that it’s tough to assess a kid. So much of what we do as teachers is to assess them and see how they cope. You don’t get a good assessment on a general basis,” Mount-Benites said, noting students are already beginning to rebound.

 

Moore said her staff will continue to use varying data points — not just CAASPP results — to “understand more deeply the needs and will then provide targeted and direct support while continuing to engage students through various, engaging, instructional techniques, in ways that will help students in their learning efforts.”

Moore and Williams both pointed to their Local Control Accountability Plan as additional key measures for exploring additional methods for reducing achievement gaps, particularly among those from underserved communities.

 

Similarly, SM-FCSD administrators are ramping up their internal assessments and data sharing practices to ensure teachers regularly updated and analyzed data. Ochoa said staff are already beginning to see a positive shift among students, which he attributes to being back on campus.

“Our results in new state assessments will reflect the senses of normalcy that will be created this year,” Ochoa said. “I think it’s attributing to the initial positive results we’re seeing from our internal assessment. I think countywide we can expect to see school systems perform stronger on next year’s test.”