by Garth Meyer
State-mandated “Smarter Balanced” test results are in for the 2024-25 school year and Redondo Unified School District dipped in English/language arts and math each about two percent.
Though still well above state levels, the district trailed Mira Costa and Palos Verdes in the metrics.
In a separate state science assessment, RBUSD improved by 7%, the numbers continuing to rise after the district de-prioritized science for remote learning during the pandemic, according to Dan Elder, RBUSD board president – because of the subject’s hands-on nature.
For math, 67% of RBUSD students tested last year [grades 3-8, and high school juniors] met or exceeded the state standard. At Mira Costa School District, 76% of its students met or exceeded the standard, and 75% for Palos Verdes.
The state average was 37%.
In English/language arts, RBUSD came in at 71%. Mira Costa posted 83% and Palos Verdes 81%. The state average was 48%.
“The results are certainly not where I’d like to see them,” Elder said. “But we’re trying to decipher; is it testing fatigue, are students taking this seriously? When they have MAP testing, AP tests as well. Are we getting accurate data (because of testing fatigue)? We want to come up with ways to underline these tests’ importance.”
RBUSD saw its 7% increase in the California Science Test (CAST), going from 53% to 60% of kids reaching the standard among the test’s fifth, eighth and 11-graders. State average was 33%.
“We have focused on science district-wide,” said Roy Lopez, Jr., RBUSD executive director, educational services.
“Some schools identified it as a school goal; a more deliberate intention to teaching the science curriculum,” said RBUSD Superintendent Nicole Wesley.
CAST numbers at Mira Costa came in at 66% and Palos Verdes 69%.
To what does RBUSD attribute the dips in math and English/language arts?
“It’s kind of hard to answer that question, there are so many variables, from staffing changes to pilot middle school math curriculum,” Supt. Wesley said. “We’re only surmising at this point. We are identifying a (new) math adoption for next year. And we’re looking at benchmark data to focus on individual students…”
Two years ago in strategic planning, the school board designated a new middle school math curriculum as a goal, though it was paused for a year as the state came out with a list of approved curriculum options.
“Now that the state has their list, we have resumed our math curriculum adoption committee, and plan to bring a recommendation to the board in the spring,” Wesley said.
If adopted, it would start in 2026-27.
As for the discrepancy with neighboring districts in the South Bay, Elder pointed to differences in diversity of student populations and higher needs students, and that “jumps are largely because a district managed to incentivize kids to take these tests more seriously.”
At the Oct. 28 RBUSD board meeting, Allison Garland, assistant superintendent, educational services, laid out a list of things the district had done and would do in response to the Smarter Balanced scores, including “principal data deep dive meetings”; and Supt. Wesley meeting with principles to analyze achievement data and “identify priority areas for improvement.”
“We normally look at (Smarter Balanced) data every year,” Garland said. “This year, we’ve taken a more intentional approach by using it to identify individual students in need of intervention. Additionally, each school’s Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) is analyzing the results alongside other data sources to develop targeted site goals.”
“It’s really frustrating, disappointing to see these numbers, because we have incredible teachers, we have a community that really values education,” Elder said.
“Frankly, I was disappointed to see we took a slight step backward,” said Boardmember Byung Cho.
For the CAST test, the Redondo district last year tested high school sophomores too, instead of only juniors. The results were 14% of all tested meeting the standard, compared to 58% this year when only RUHS juniors were tested.
“Though 11th grade science is optional, most students do take a science class,” Elder said. “I don’t know what exactly happened there. I think it goes to reinforce that we need to incentivize people to care about these tests, essentially.”
Nonetheless, he points out that more RUHS students are taking A.P. exams than ever, and more are passing them.
“That is a very positive trend,” Elder said.
AP exams get kids into AP classes from which they can earn college credit.
“In a test that matters to them, how are they doing?” said Elder. “There’s no penalty for doing poorly on a Smarter Balanced test.”
He noted that the timing of the College Boards’ AP testing in spring even affects the start date of a school year now, to allow more education days before the AP tests. ER
