Editorial: LAUSD students’ scores are bouncing back — thanks to teachers
How great it would be to have a full-on celebration of the test-score improvement in Los Angeles Unified School District. And it does deserve celebration. Scores on the state standardized tests improved at every grade level tested — third through eighth, and 11th — and in both math and English. More students are at proficient level, and even more meaningfully, those who haven’t reached proficiency are getting closer.
No doubt most of the credit goes to teachers who have gone full bore to bring students up to speed after the pandemic closed the schools for more than a year. Not only did students suffer major learning losses during online schooling, but their mental health suffered as well, and behavioral problems became more common in classrooms. Not easy.
It’s encouraging — but not yet time for a full-throated cheer that all is well. For the most part, the scores are not back up to where they were before the pandemic. And they weren’t acceptable then, either. Before the pandemic, nearly 44% of students tested proficient in English and 34% in math. This year, it was 43% in English and nearly 33% in math.
L.A. Unified officials need to explain to parents why they slashed Primary Promise, a program that has helped struggling students improve their reading and math achievement.
District leaders would be wise to investigate which kinds of interventions helped the most. Was it the after-school, face-to-face tutoring that many teachers offered? Could part of it have been Primary Promise, the intensive help that children through third grade have received at some schools, taught in small groups by teacher specialists? The district should examine whether it is a mistake to move away from that popular program.
Of course, standardized test scores aren’t the whole story of student success, and it’s good to be past the No Child Left Behind years, when schools trembled over their scores lest they be targeted for mandatory interventions, including takeover. There are many reasons students might do poorly on one of the state’s annual exams — indifference because the tests don’t count toward grades, a bad day or the way the tests are worded.
It’s also not known yet how schools did statewide because those scores haven’t been released yet. Context and comparison matter.
The school board placed severe restrictions on where charter schools can rent space on district campuses. But charter students are L.A. Unified’s kids as well and deserve equal consideration.
Still, scores are one important if broad indication of how things are going academically. With significantly fewer than half of L.A. Unified students scoring as proficient, the signs are clear that a lot more work is needed in coming years, especially considering that one of the district’s goals is to have far more students qualify for Cal State or the University of California.
There will be other measures for examining the district’s success in future years. For example, L.A. Unified has been one of the leaders nationwide at offering magnet schools that both engage students and prepare them for fulfilling careers, such as the school actor George Clooney helped found to train people for jobs in the film and entertainment industry, and provide apprenticeships and a network for jobs. That school is too new to have shown results yet, but the district should be examining the outcomes for its graduates of magnet and career/technical schools.
Proposition 28 directs nearly $1 billion to expand arts and music classes at California schools. But critics say some districts, including LAUSD, are using the budget bonanza for other things.
The district’s new initiative to teach some subjects through video games could be another winner, along with many other new programs that Supt. Alberto Carvalho is introducing. His energy and reach should be applauded, but key to success is assessing what works and what doesn’t, and then following the results. Too often in the past, L.A. Unified has introduced well-intentioned plans but never checked on whether they worked.
All of that said, the reason for universal improvement in math and English this past year seems clear: teachers. Programs can be tremendously helpful, but ultimately, learning is about teachers putting in maximum effort with the students in their classrooms. It appears that the teachers of L.A. Unified did that extremely well this past academic year, and for that, deserve unmitigated praise.
A cure for the common opinion
Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
