A fact sheet published late March by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) identified several alarming trends that highlight the motivation behind CSBA’s call for greater state accountability in helping local educational agencies close achievement gaps.
The latest data — published after a March 17 press conference in which lawmakers joined CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy, CSBA President Dr. Debra Schade and Hope Elementary School District Superintendent Melanie Matta to unveil the SOS for Student Achievement: Close the State Accountability Gap campaign and related legislation to improve overall student performance, close achievement gaps and establish comprehensive state-level support for LEAs — included a number of troubling issues.
Among the key findings from the 2025 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) results:
- Only 49 percent of students met or exceeded the state standard in English, while 37 percent met or exceeded the standard in math and 33 percent met or exceeded state standards on the California Science Test (CAST).
- Achievement gaps remain persistent across race/ethnicity, with 62 percent of Asian students meeting or exceeding standards in English and 57 percent in math compared to white students (62 percent meeting or exceeding the standard in English and 51 percent in math), Latino students (39 percent meeting the standard in English and 26 percent in math) and Black students (33 percent meeting the standard in English and 20 percent in math).
- Disparities also remain stark between students who were ever English learners (ELs) — some of whom were reclassified as English proficient — and their English-speaking peers. Researchers identified an 18-percentage point gap in English (37 percent versus 55 percent), and a 16-percentage point difference in math (26 percent versus 43 percent).
- English proficiency rates for low-income students (38 percent) were roughly half of those for students from moderate- to high-income households (68 percent), and gaps in math performance were even wider at 26 percent versus 58 percent.
- Proficiency rates vary across regions, with students in the Bay Area and parts of Southern California achieving the highest scores; those in Los Angeles and the Central Coast scoring closer to the state average; and students in the Central Valley and the northernmost areas scoring below the state average.
Overall, student performance in California is slightly behind other large states. According to PPIC’s fact sheet, only 29 percent of California fourth-graders and 28 percent of eighth-graders were proficient in reading on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Math proficiency rates were 35 percent and 25 percent in grades 4 and 8, respectively.
“California’s 2024 NAEP results — like those in most other states — indicate stalled pandemic recovery; concern has grown about the widening gap between California’s highest- and lowest-performing students,” researchers concluded.
CSBA’s call to action
CSBA is sponsoring a bill package to improve overall student performance, close achievement gaps and establish comprehensive state-level support for LEAs. In addition to creating conditions conducive to student performance, the SOS for Student Achievement legislative package seeks to close California’s “accountability gap” wherein LEAs are subjected to scrutiny, but the state doesn’t embrace its own role or responsibility in supporting student achievement. The proposed legislation aims to align state policy, funding and oversight around a clear operations and support plan. The following bills are included in the legislative package:
- Assembly Bill 2225 by Darshana Patel (D-San Diego) would convene educators, families, researchers and policymakers to develop a comprehensive statewide plan to close achievement gaps.
- AB 2149 by Robert Garcia (D-San Bernardino) would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to annually evaluate how well the state budget and its education policies align with the statewide plan.
- AB 2514 by Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy) would establish a public dashboard to track the state’s progress in implementing the achievement gap plan and to provide transparent data about whether state programs are helping improve student outcomes.
- AB 2202 by Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) would establish a Closing the Achievement Gap Commission under the State Board of Education to monitor state programs and strengthen coordination across California’s education system.
“So often, our discussions of the achievement gap focuses on the outcomes at individual schools or in a particular district without examining the underlying issues, without examining the conditions and systems that complicate these efforts to improve student outcomes,” Patel, who serves as the Education Committee chair, said during the March 17 press conference. “For a state like California, one that prides itself on innovation, opportunity and leadership, this is not acceptable and it’s not sustainable. And that’s why we are here today. To begin the process of bringing coherence and alignment to California’s system of education governance so the state can properly support local schools and close achievement gaps.”
Learn more about the SOS for Student Achievement: Closing the State Accountability Gap campaign at www.csba.org/studentachievement.
