LA students' grades are rising, but test scores are falling. Why the big disconnect?
LOS ANGELES — Claudia Chacon said her two children, who attend Fairfax High School, bring home good grades in math and English. But when she reviews their individual scores on California's statewide tests, she wonders what they are learning. The standardized exams have shown her boys do not meet grade-level standards, making her worry their report cards mask their real achievement levels.
"It feels like they're still struggling," she said, concerned that her ninth- and 11th-grade sons aren't being fully prepared for college.
Their situation is far from unique. After falling in the early semesters of the pandemic, by spring 2022 high school and middle school math and English grades in the Los Angeles Unified School District not only rebounded, but went up, according to an L.A. Times analysis. At the same time, math and English proficiency rates on the state's standardized tests fell to their lowest levels in five years.
The vast majority of students — whose teachers follow revised grading guidelines put in place amid the pandemic — received A's, Bs and Cs in their classes. But the good report cards may not reflect a student's ability to meet California's grade level standards — even though a district policy
