Recently released standardized test results show that student performance on English language arts and math exams in the Mountain View Whisman School District slid again last school year, the second year of declines as educators work to help students catch up academically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last school year, Mountain View Whisman saw a 1.8 percentage point drop in the share of students who "met" or "exceeded" state standards in English language arts compared to the prior year, for a total drop of 6.7 points compared to before the pandemic.

When it came to math, there was a 1.5 percentage point drop in students meeting or exceeding standards compared to the prior year and a 5.8-point drop compared to pre-pandemic performance.

In total, 64.3% of Mountain View Whisman students met or exceeded standards in English language arts last school year, compared to 66.1% the year before and 71% in 2019. In math, 57.9% of students met or exceeded standards, compared to 59.4% in 2022 and 63.7% in 2019.

The California Department of Education released the 2022-23 Smarter Balanced test results on Oct. 18. Students take the exams each spring in third through eighth grades, and then again in eleventh grade. Mountain View Whisman is an elementary and middle school district.

The district's test scores were improving in largely consistent trends until the pandemic hit. With schools shut down and classes operating online, tests weren't administered in 2020 and were optional in 2021.

When students took the exams again in 2022, the results showed a drop in performance. The numbers released last week revealed that the decline continued in 2023.

Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph told the Voice that the results reflect the pandemic's impact on students. He noted that third graders taking the standardized tests for the first time last year would have been in kindergarten when COVID-19 hit, meaning that they never experienced elementary school before the pandemic. Many of the students now being tested, Rudolph said, were in the prime-years for learning to read when schools were most disrupted by the pandemic.

In a newsletter to families, the school district described the test scores as a "lagging indicator" of the pandemic's effects.

"Time spent in distance learning, families worried about loss of income, and social-emotional skills of younger students who missed traditional school experience are all factors in test performance," the newsletter said, noting that student absences are also higher than before the pandemic.

Rudolph also pointed out that the district has seen an increase in socioeconomically disadvantaged and homeless students. Last school year 30.6% of Mountain View Whisman students were considered socioeconomically disadvantaged, up from 27.2% the year before. The number of homeless students increased from 4% to 5.7%.

According to Rudolph, the district spent much of last school year starting to address the needs students had coming out of the pandemic and shoring up the supports it had in place.

"While we're not pleased with where we are, … everything that we put in place last year definitely helped to sort of slow the decline down," Rudolph said, referring to the test results.

This school year, Rudolph said that the district is focused on implementing its plans and hopes to see that reflected in student performance.

As has been true since before the pandemic, the share of Mountain View Whisman students who met or exceeded standards was well above the state average in 2023. And like Mountain View Whisman, statewide performance remains below pre-pandemic levels.

However, while the share of Mountain View Whisman students at or above grade level on the English language arts and math tests continued to dip in 2023, statewide data showed a slight increase in performance on the math exam compared to 2022 and a smaller decline on the English language arts exam than Mountain View Whisman saw.

In 2023, 34.6% of California students met or exceeded math standards, which was 1.2 points higher than in 2022, but 5.1 points below the 39.7% figure in 2019. On the English language arts test, 46.7% of California students met or exceeded the standards in 2023, down from 47.1% in 2022 and 51.1% in 2019, a delta of 4.4 points from pre-pandemic levels.

In a press release, the California Department of Education noted that the proportion of students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, homeless or part of the foster care system all increased. Given those changes, the state described the results as showing "promising gains" coming out of the pandemic.

Large achievement gaps remain

While test results show that student performance has declined overall in Mountain View Whisman since the pandemic, the impact has hit certain groups of students harder than others.

There's been a 16.4 point drop in the share of Latino students meeting or exceeding English language arts standards since 2019, compared to a 4.5 point drop for white students and roughly flat performance for Asian students. Compared to 2022, there was a 5 point drop for Latino students, compared to 0.5 and 0.4 point declines for white and Asian students, respectively.

The math results show a 12.8 point drop in the percent of Latino students meeting or exceeding standards compared to 2019, versus 5.9 and 0.25 point drops for white and Asian students, respectively. When looking at the one-year change from 2022 to 2023, Latino students saw a 1.9 point drop, compared to a 2.6 point decline for white students and a 1.5 point dip for Asian students.

The declines in scores since the pandemic began have in some cases widened large and long-standing gaps in achievement among student groups. In 2023, white and Asian students were more than three times as likely to be meeting or exceeding standards in math compared to Latino students. The recently released test scores show 23.5% of Latino students hit that benchmark, compared to 78.1% and 88.6% of white and Asian students, respectively.

According to Rudolph, the district had started to see progress in closing the achievement gap for Latino students before the pandemic, and he believes the district can do that again.

When looking at results based on socioeconomic status, there are also big disparities. Only 22.6% of students who were considered socioeconomically disadvantaged met or exceeded state standards in math, compared to 75% of their non-socioeconomically disadvantaged peers. In English language arts, 31.4% of socioeconomically disadvantaged students met or exceeded the standards, compared to 79.7% of other students.

Compared to 2022, socioeconomically disadvantaged students saw their performance this spring dip 0.9 points in math and 2.6 points in English language arts. In contrast, students who weren't socioeconomically disadvantaged saw relatively flat performance in both subjects.

District spokesperson Shelly Hausman noted that certain schools, grades and student subgroups did see improved performance. A greater share of students with disabilities met or exceeded state standards last school year, compared to before the pandemic, though they remain far less likely to be meeting or exceeding standards than those without disabilities.

District looks to implement new programs to improve student performance

Rudolph described the test results as evidence that there is work to be done and said that this school year is focused on implementation.

"We know what the needs are," Rudolph said. "This year is where all the planning comes into play and it's just starting to have some type of impact – substantive impact."

The district has created an early literacy team this school year that is focused on supporting students learning to read at the four elementary schools with the lowest English language arts scores: Castro, Mistral, Monta Loma and Theuerkauf. The team includes a director, five reading intervention teachers and five instructional assistants, according to a district newsletter.

Mountain View Whisman is also implementing what's known as a Multi-Tiered System of Support, which is meant to be a standardized way to support students' needs. The district is beginning with a focus on ways to support students academically and then plans to move onto areas like mental health and discipline.

The district has also expanded its free after-school care for students in need as part of the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, a state-funded effort to provide greater enrichment opportunities for kindergarten through sixth grade students.

According to Rudolph, there's also an effort underway to look at new options for elementary school English language arts curriculums.