News

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today the statewide results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) summative assessments for English Language Arts(ELA)/Literacy and Mathematics.

For CAASPP, performance continues to improve overall within grades as measured by the Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy and Mathematics assessments. Statewide results in all tested grades showed that 51% of students met or exceeded standards in ELA/Literacy, a 1% increase from 2018 and a 7% increase from 2015. In Mathematics, 40% of students met or exceeded standards, a 1% increase from 2018 and a 7% increase from 2015. Assisting in the upward trend were students from the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD). Since the introduction of the SBAC in 2015, FUSD students have increased their proficiency in ELA/Literacy from 71% in 2015, to 78% in 2019 (+7%), and in Mathematics from 70% in 2015, to 74% in 2019 (+4%).

According to data released today by the California Department of Education, FUSD students maintained, and in several cases, improved on their performance from 2018. Highlights include:

• Overall, 78% of FUSD students ‘Met/Exceeded’ the standard in ELA/Literacy, compared to 57% for Alameda County and 51% for all of California. In Math, 74% of FUSD students ‘Met/Exceeded’ the standard, compared to 49% for Alameda County and 40% for all of California.
• FUSD’s percentage of students who ‘Met/Exceeded’ the standard in ELA/Literacy maintained or increased in all grade levels from 2018, with the exception of a drop of 1% for grade 11, which still maintained a 5% increase since 2015.
• FUSD’s percentage of students who ‘Met/Exceeded’ the standard in Math increased or remained the same in most grade levels from 2018, highlighted by growth of 4% for grades 3 and 4. Grades 8 and 11 experienced a decrease of 1%, but still maintained increases of 4% and 6% respectively since 2015.
• When compared to 2018, the African American student group showed gains in the percentage ‘Met/Exceeded’ for both ELA/Literacy and Math of 5%.  Three student groups increased 3% in ELA/Literacy: the Latino, Two or More Races, and Socio-Economically Disadvantaged student groups.  In Math, the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged student group increased 4%, and both the Filipino and Latino student groups increased 3%.
• The English Learner student group experienced a decrease in the percentage ‘Met/Exceeded’ due to a change in the state timing of re-classification of English Learners.  This re-classification of high performing English Learners to Reclassified Fluent English Proficient earlier in the school year meant that for the first time, these students were not included in the English Learner student group for CAASPP reporting purposes.  As a result, the percentage ‘Met/Exceeded’ decreased 8% for ELA/Literacy, and 7% for Math.
• FUSD students also performed well among Area Achievement Level Descriptors, posting achievement of ‘Above/Near’ Standard by at least 88% of students in all areas of ELA/Literacy, and over 83% of students for all areas of Math.

This is the fifth year of the computer-based tests, which use California’s challenging academic standards and ask students to write clearly, think critically, and solve complex problems, as they will need to do in college and future careers. During this time period, less than 1% of students did not take part in the assessments due to a parent/guardian exemption, a figure that is far lower than in other states.

Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy and Mathematics tests consist of two parts: a computer adaptive assessment and a performance task. The computer adaptive assessment bases follow-up questions on a student’s answers in real time. If a student answers a question correctly, they get a more difficult question. If they answer incorrectly, they get an easier question.

The performance task challenges students' ability to apply their knowledge and skills to problems in a real-world setting. The two parts measure depth of understanding, writing, research, and problem-solving skills.

Scores on the Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy and Mathematics fall into one of four achievement levels: standard exceeded, standard met, standard nearly met, and standard not met. The state also computes the average scores of all tested students by grade level, called mean scale scores, which reflect the progress of all students rather than only those who changed achievement levels from one year to the next.

Parents/Guardians in FUSD have electronically received individual results for their children. In addition, California provides the CAASPP Results Web page, where parents and teachers can view and compare aggregated results among schools, districts, and counties along with statewide results.