GO Public Schools Oakland Statement on Delayed 2017 SBAC Results
2017 Results Point to Persistent Achievement Gap Between Different Ethnic Groups, Staggeringly Low Numbers for English Learners
Today, the California Department of Education released the results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, after a delay caused by a recently identified data issue.
Officially launched in Spring 2015, this computer adaptive test is designed to effectively test and understand student knowledge. This year’s results offer some insight into how the public schools that nonprofit group GO Public Schools serves are performing as they work to prepare our students for the future.
In the Oakland Unified School District, just over a third of students (34.7%) were found to be meeting or exceeding standards in English and Literacy, and an even smaller number (27.6%) were meeting or exceeding standards in Math, representing a slight increase from last year’s results.
The test results also indicate what clearly represents a persistent achievement gap that exists with some subgroups, whose scores also increased from last year, but at a lower percentage. For example, White students are more than 4 times more likely to be meeting or exceeding standards in Math than Black students, and this has remained consistent since testing began a few years ago. And as a popular landing point for newcomers to the U.S., Oakland’s proficiency levels for English learners are staggeringly low, at 5.2% for English and 8.3% for math.
“This year’s test results tell us that we still haven’t done enough to support our students or shift their learning environments to meet their unique needs and realize their full potential,” said Ash Solar, Executive Director of GO Public Schools Oakland. “It’s true that our students are not solely defined by their test scores, but these scores do indicate that we need to do much, much better for Oakland kids.”
GO Public Schools recognizes that this test and the associated standards are relatively new, and that school systems and educators continue to adapt and better prepare to teach to these new standards. We are committed to doing our part in the next school year to ensure that educators are properly supported so that they can place their focus on what matters most—student learning.
