Report on start-of-year reading and math test results

In plain English

Staff from the Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development department will present the results of fall 2026 screening tests in reading and math and answer board questions. The reading data (DIBELS in English and Lectura in Spanish) covers foundational literacy skills in kindergarten through grade 3, and the math data comes from a Beginning-of-Year diagnostic taken by all grade 3-5 students under the new Paradigm Mathematics program. This is a report and discussion item, so the board would hear the information and discuss it rather than approve or fund anything.

The results set the baseline the district says it will use to plan instruction and target extra help for elementary students this school year, and they show wide gaps — for example, 33% of grade 3 students scored "Well Below Benchmark" on the English reading composite while 76% of grade 3 students met or exceeded benchmark in Spanish.

Key facts

The district's stated goal is to raise the share of grade 3 students meeting or exceeding standards on the state English Language Arts test (CAASPP) from 17% in May 2025 to 32% in May 2031.
English grade 3 composite scores moved from 47.8% at or above benchmark at the end of 2025-26 to 49.2% at the start of 2026-27, a gain of 1.4 percentage points; "Well Below Benchmark" held at 33%.
In Spanish (Lectura), grade 3 held steady at 76% at or above benchmark on the composite (33% At, 43% Above), and grade 1 reached 82% at or above benchmark in phonological awareness, up from 78%.
Grade 2 Spanish results improved: students "At" benchmark on the composite rose from 43% to 48%, and those "Below" benchmark dropped from 11% to 5%.
Paradigm Mathematics, adopted by the board in May 2026, is now being used in all 16 elementary schools, and all grade 3-5 students took the Beginning-of-Year math diagnostic. The presentation also covers the district's math placement policy for grades 7-9 required by California Education Code Section 51224.7 (SB 359, the Mathematics Placement Act of 2015).

Reasons to support

Fall screening data gives teachers an early baseline so they can identify which students need targeted support before the year is far along, rather than waiting for spring state test results.
The report shows measurable bright spots to build on, including 82% of grade 1 students at or above benchmark in Spanish phonological awareness and a drop in grade 2 Spanish students below benchmark from 11% to 5%.
School-level as well as districtwide results are included, which lets the board see which campuses need the most instructional attention under the newly adopted math program.

Reasons to oppose or change it

The English reading numbers show little movement — grade 3 composite rose only 1.4 percentage points and the share "Well Below Benchmark" stayed at 33% — raising the question of whether current strategies are enough to reach the 32% goal by May 2031.
The literacy data covers only grades K-3 and the math diagnostic only grades 3-5, so the board gets no new screening picture of older students' achievement from this report.
Fifteen minutes total (10 minutes of report, 5 of discussion) for 41 slides of district and school-level data leaves limited time to probe why some schools or language groups lag behind others.

Official wording

Presentation of 2026–2027 Beginning-of-Year Diagnostic Assessment Results Presented by: Rich Moran & Deepika Srivastava, Director, Curriculum, Instruction & Professional Development 10 min. report; 5 min. discussion The Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development (CIPD) Department will present the results of the 2026–2027 Beginning-of-Year (BOY) Universal Screener Data (DIBELS/Lectura) and Mathematics. The presentation will provide an overview of districtwide and school-level student performance, identify areas of strength and instructional needs, and highlight trends in student achievement. Prepared by: Rich Moran & Deepika Srivastava

Official agenda 2026-27 BOY Assessment Data.pdf

Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the 2026-27 BOY Assessment Data.pdf. It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.