Test Results Show GUSD Students Score Low in Math and English

Delivering bad news isn’t easy. Politicians frequently minimize negative information by spinning the positive. So, with that said, here are some takeaways from GUSD Superintendent Ekchian’s presentation on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) test results:

-Results across all grades tested show a proficiency of only 52% (math) and 61% (English).

-Ekchian refers to the test results as “a moment in time.”

-The results are the first available since 2019 when students were last assessed.

-The results are a combination of the top two scores of ‘standard exceeded,’ and ‘standard met.’ No breakdown was given for scores of ‘nearly met,’ or ‘not met.’

-After a year and a half of online learning, teachers had to spend a lot of time teaching students “how to write in complete sentences,” instead of emojis and abbreviations.

-Glenoaks Elementary Principal attributes their improved 6th grade math test results to “Trust, training and time.” His school used $60,000 in ELO grant funds to hire Sports For Learning to work with students while their teachers got to attend weekly hour-long meetings. Teachers got used to having the weekly meetings and now want them to become permanent.

-Edison Elementary Principal attributes their improved 5th grade math test results to using ELO grant funds to pay for an ‘intervention teacher,’ to help the other teachers. In addition, they also grouped students according to their proficiency and teachers had to work on “trusting each other” when sharing students.

-Cerritos Elementary Principal attributes their improved 6th grade English test results to prepping students for the CAASPP two months in advance with practice tests and sending links to parents for their children to practice the test at home.

-Significant changes have been made to identify students for the gifted and talented (GATE) program. CAASPP is -no longer- being used as the primary identifier. A ‘non-verbal assessment’ may be used in an effort to be more inclusive.

-The Board of Educations priorities include a mixture of SEL, DEI and ‘culturally relevant curriculum.’

Excerpts taken from the Glendale Unified School Board meeting on Aug 30th, 2022.