30 Oct Superintendent Letter: Recent State Test Scores
The California Department of Education recently released scores for the 2018-2019 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. You likely know this exam by a more common acronym, SBAC, or the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. We are thrilled to report that PUC schools performed at their highest level on CAASPP since the challenging test’s debut in 2015.
This exam is an opportunity for our students in the third through eighth grades and 11th grade to show their mastery of ELA and math. I’m excited to share that this year’s scores show the tide of achievement continuing to rise at PUC Schools.
Our strong outcomes are especially telling at individual schools. I’d like to take a moment to highlight some of our schools that experienced a significant rise in the number of students meeting or exceeding ELA standards in just one year:
- PUC Community Charter Early College High School [+19%]
- PUC Community Charter Elementary School [+14%]
- PUC Excel Charter Academy [+10%]
- PUC Community Charter Middle School [+7%]
PUC schools also made big improvements when it came to meeting or exceeding math standards. Here are some of the fastest rising PUC schools in math:
- PUC Lakeview Charter High School [+9%]
- PUC Triumph Charter High School [+6%]
- PUC Community Charter Middle School [+6%]
- PUC Lakeview Charter Academy [+5%]
All our students share in the phenomenal upward momentum demonstrated by these impressive strides. By the fifth grade, PUC students meet and exceed ELA and math standards at higher rates than both L.A. Unified and schools in the Los Angeles County. The same can be said for our eight grade and 11th grade students. No matter which grade students start at PUC, I’m happy to report that over time, we prepare them to exceed the standards, preparing them to thrive in the next phase of their education, be it middle school, high school or college.
Our successes this year extended beyond big improvements in scores. Students at several schools met or exceeded standards at very high levels. For example, at PUC Community Charter Early College High School and PUC Lakeview Charter High School an impressive 73 percent of 11th grade students met or exceeded ELA standards. In math, approximately half of 11th grade students at both schools met or exceeded standards, compared to the 32 percent of their peers throughout the state.
In ELA, 66 percent of our 11th grade students met or exceeded ELA standards. In comparison, 52 percent of 11th grade students in Los Angeles Unified and 57 percent of 11th grade students in the state tested at the same level. In math, our juniors outpaced the rest of Los Angeles Unified by 13 percentage points. It makes me incredibly proud to see this level of college readiness from our rising high school seniors.
As always, we will study our students’ performances, designing strategic interventions to ensure that we provide support in areas of need while providing our teachers with the resources and professional development they need to address any gaps in learning.
We have good cause to be proud of our students. A rising tide lifts all boats. Our great strides are in large part thanks to the transformative work and commitment to learning of our teachers, parents, students and staff. We appreciate your continued support and participation in your child’s education and growth. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me. Thank you so much for your time and we are looking forward to continuing a great school year.
Sincerely,
Concepción Rivas
Superintendent
PUC Schools