San Mateo County student test scores down, but not as much as rest of state

In San Mateo County, student test scores also saw a decline of 2% to 3% but still outperformed state averages overall with 49% of students meeting math skills and 58.8% meeting ELA benchmarks.

But outcomes among the county’s Black and Latino students saw a 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.

“As in previous years, it is critical to look at the results for individual student groups within a district or school to understand where additional support or inquiry might be needed. The student group results in San Mateo County were mixed,” read a press release from the San Mateo County Office of Education.

The test scores highlighted the widespread impacts of the pandemic, with traditionally underserved students facing the biggest challenges.

Math and reading scores have dropped significantly across the country since the pandemic. For California, the numbers underscore what was already a troubling trend before the pandemic, when 60% of students were testing below grade level in math and nearly half in English.

“It is fair for people to be concerned about the experience that kids have had,” California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said in an interview. “But we also had 99,000 Californians who lost their lives to COVID. And we did the things that we felt we needed to do to save lives. ... Now is our time to focus on how we accelerate the students’ recovery.”

State officials said the latest data contained some “hopeful signs.” The Department of Education compared the scores of students who took the tests in 2020-21 to those same students who took the tests this year and found “steeper-than-normal achievement gains at most grade levels.”

The county Office of Education noted local districts began using internal assessments to gauge student development and to pivot their approach to service. That practice, the office said, has led districts across the county to consider new ways of measuring success and directly feeding that detailed information to educators.

That shift paired with a return to in-person classes could help districts better address specific learning and development needs, the office said.

“Our students have experienced an incredible upheaval in their short lives. As has been documented, the impact on their mental health and social-emotional development has been significant. However, our students have also shown tremendous resiliency throughout the pandemic,” the press release read. “As we move forward, schools must continue to use the resources at hand to support student well-being and employ strategies to accelerate learning. The need is urgent. Students are counting on schools to help them improve their skills and be prepared to pursue their goals and develop their talents for life success.”

Thurmond noted the state is phasing in a plan to send all 4-year-olds to public school and also spent $250 million on things like reading coaches and other specialists.

Still, Republicans lamented the lack of progress, blaming Democrats who control state government.

“These test scores reflect the current state of education in California. We are failing students in the most important subjects,” James Gallagher, the Republican leader in the state Assembly, said. “This is just another example of Democrat mismanagement, and our kids are suffering for it.”

Results of a national assessment showed setbacks for most of the country, including California. But California’s scores did not decline as much as the national average.

“While California’s students experienced less learning loss than those in most other states during the pandemic, these results are not a celebration but a call to action — students are struggling academically and we need to keep getting them the resources they need to thrive,” California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said.