Although the scores mirror a similar trend of declines seen in national testing data released hours earlier, state officials say they see signs of recovery: Some students show higher-than-expected gains.
Years of incremental improvements in student achievement on state exams were wiped out during the COVID-19 pandemic, with math suffering worse declines than English language arts, according to spring 2022 scores released by the state Monday morning.that was released hours earlier on Sunday night.
In San Diego County, which has consistently surpassed state averages, about 53 percent of public school students passed English language arts, down four percentage points from 2019. Only 39 percent of county students did so in math, down six percentage points from 2019 and the county’s lowest passing rate since the debut of the state’s current exams.
“These test scores show the difficulties students in California and across the nation have experienced during the pandemic,” State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said in a statement. “Gaps that we were working to close before the pandemic have persisted, especially for disadvantaged students. We have a lot of work ahead of us but with resources and support, our students can overcome these challenges and can thrive.