Results from annual English and math state testing show a drop in performance in the Goleta Union School District during the 2023-24 school year compared with the 2022-23 school year.

Each year, students from third through eighth grade and 11th grade take the state’s Smarter Balanced test. It serves as an assessment to evaluate students’ understanding of math and English language arts/literacy (ELA).

As a whole, 64% of students tested in the district met or exceeded standards in English and 53% met or exceeded standards in math. 

That is a slight decrease from 2022-23, in which 65% of students tested met or exceeded standards in English and 56% met or exceeded standards in math. Notably, fewer students were tested in 2023-24 than in 2022-23. 

During the 2022-23 school year, 1,877 students were tested, while 1,826 tested during the 2023-24 school year. The decrease in students is likely because of the changing student population. 

The scores are higher than the overall state scores, which show that 47% of students tested met or exceeded standards in English and 35% met or exceeded standards in math.

Dr. Letitia Bradley, assistant superintendent of instructional services, said they were proud of the district outperforming the state.

“That is something that we are proud of, but we don’t want to lose the gains that we’re having,” Bradley said. “We are still doing better than the state. We obviously have impacts with respect to COVID and learning loss, but at the same time, we have been able to still maintain our footing.”

The results also show a significant disparity for students with disabilities, socioeconomic disadvantages and racial backgrounds.

Of the district’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students, 45% met or exceeded standards in English and 30% met or exceeded standards in math. 

Of students that are not socioeconomically disadvantaged, 76% met or exceeded standards in English and 67% met or exceeded standards in math.

The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress considers a student socioeconomically disadvantaged if they are eligible for free or reduced school meals, if neither of their parents graduated from high school, if they were considered homeless, or eligible for a foster program. 

Bradley said they want to explore how the district’s after-school programs can help reduce this gap. 

“We want them to have fun, we want to encourage play, we want to reduce screen time, but we also want to make sure that if they’re with us until late into the evening, that we take care of their academic needs as well,” Bradley said.

Of the district’s LatinX students that tested, 46% met or exceeded standards in English and 31% met or exceeded standards in math.

Of the white students who tested, 80% met or exceeded standards in English and 73% met or exceeded standards in math. 

Of the district’s Black students who tested, 66% met or exceeded standards in English but only 41% met or exceeded standards in math.

Of the district’s Asian students who tested, 74% met or exceeded standards in English while 79% met or exceeded standards in math. 

Board member Emily Zacarias raised some concern about the disparities and asked if there is more the district should be doing.

“I hope we can make some gains to narrow that. We’re not the only ones in that boat, but it’s just really disappointing to still see that it’s there, which is no ding on anybody, but it’s just a problem that we really need to figure out how to improve,” Zacarias said.

Of students with disabilities who were tested, only 17% met or exceeded standards in English and 19% met or exceeded standards in math. That is slightly higher than the state average scores for students with disabilities, which show 15% meeting or exceeding standards in English and 12% meeting or exceeding standards in math.

Board clerk Ethan Bertrand said that while it’s good that the district is ahead of the state scores in many respects, they need to be honest with the community about the disparities in order to make progress. 

“We want to maximize what we’re doing in the time that we have our kids in our care,” Bertrand said. “We cannot control what is disparate outside of our doors, but we can control what is disparate and hopefully what is equitable within our time that we have with the students. And I know that we’re taking that really seriously.”

Out of all the schools in the district, Mountain View Elementary received the highest scores, with 82% meeting or exceeding standards in English and 76% meeting or exceeding standards in math.  

La Patera Elementary School had 57% of students tested meeting or exceeding standards in English and 44% meeting or exceeding standards in math, which is consistent with its scores from the previous school year.

Kellogg Elementary saw a significant decrease in its scores, with 61% meeting or exceeding standards in English, a 7% decrease from the year before, and 52% meeting or exceeding standard in math, a 13% decrease from the year before. 

Isla Vista Elementary School had 70% of students meeting or exceeding standards in English and 62% meeting or exceeding standards in math, a slight increase from the previous year. 

Hollister Elementary School saw a slight decrease from the year before, with 64% of students meeting or exceeding standards in English and 51% meeting or exceeding standards in math.

Foothill Elementary School saw fairly consistent scores from the year before, with 79% meeting or exceeding standards in English and 68% meeting or exceeding standards in math. 

At Ellwood Elementary School, 56% met or exceeded standards in English, a 9% decrease from the year before, and 47% met or exceeded standards in math, a 2% decrease from the year before. 

El Camino had 44% of students tested meeting or exceeding standards in English, which is consistent from the year before. Only 29% met or exceeded standards in math, a 10% decrease from the year before. 

Brandon Elementary had 54% of students meet or exceed standards in English and 42% of students meet or exceed standards in math, which is consistent with the school’s scores from the years before. 

Dr. Richard Mayer, a board member for the Goleta Union Board of Education, expressed concern over why so many schools saw a decrease in their math scores. 

Bradley said that coming out of the pandemic, there has been a big focus on literacy, but that they will be reassessing the math curriculum the district is using to find the root cause of the decrease in math scores.