California’s Department of Education said Friday that graduation rates and enrollment dropped while absences increased in the state’s public schools last year.
But, with only 25% of students taking statewide assessment tests in 2020-21 as schools scrambled to administer the exams in the midst of the pandemic, it’s impossible to know the full extent of learning loss with students doing remote learning.
“COVID-19 not only created challenges for teaching and learning but also for the administration of the statewide assessments,” the Department of Education said in a statement as it released results of the limited proficiency tests and other data on absenteeism and graduation rates.
Typically, about 95% of eligible students, or 3.2 million, take the assessment tests that measure proficiency in English, math, and other subjects. Educators look to the results and how they compare to previous years to make decisions about education programs and policies. But the department warned that it “is not advisable” to do that this year and analyzing the data should be done with “explicit caution.”
Among those tested, just 49% of students met or exceeded standards in English in 2021. In math, only 34% met that standard and, for science, it was worse, just 29%.
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