Dear Oxnard School District Community,

 

The 2021-22 school year was the first year of a full return to the classroom across California, which included a return to statewide testing. The data being released today shine a light on what happened last year and where students were performing at that point in time. 

 

However, this is only one measure of student achievement. Test scores do not tell you everything you need to know about student learning and Oxnard SD has been working to ensure that students' basic needs, mental health, and social emotional development are also met. 

 

Oxnard and districts across the state anticipated that student assessment scores would be lower than in years past. The pandemic forced teachers to shift their instructional practices and strategies to meet the needs of all students during a time of uncertainty. Educators, students and families showed resilience and resourcefulness during the pandemic. The National Report Card just went out reflecting the same trend nationwide. 

 

We would encourage everyone to be cautious about comparisons to previous years and other districts. There are multiple and unique factors to be considered: 

• Potentially this is the first time that three cohorts of students took the assessment (3rd, 4th, 5th grade) 

• The full impact of chronic absenteeism, declining enrollment, mental health and other unique factors are still being researched. 

 

We will use this  assessment data to understand  where students are so we can provide interventions and support to accelerate learning. While academic learning may be unfinished, it is not “lost.” We will use these data points to continue the conversation around continuous improvement and supporting our students and families. For example, our district has expanded TK to include all four-year-olds, expanded our before and after school opportunities, including summer programs. Our schools are opening math labs to create more math based experiences for our students.  Our schools have opened wellness centers to promote student well-being to help students overcome trauma and stress experienced by the pandemic and we can remove obstacles to learning. 

 

The data establishes a new baseline that will be used to measure improvement in our schools and specific student groups.

 

We look forward to working collaboratively with our educational partners to improve student outcomes.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Karling Aguilera-Fort

 

Links to Additional Resources

Link to CAASPP Communications Background Document (September 2022)

Assessment Data Communications Toolkit (Riverside COE)

Student Learning, Unfinished, Not Lost (Oregon)

Accelerated Learning (CA County Superintendents)

2022 Dashboard Video (ACSA)

2022 Dashboard Communications Toolkit (CDE)

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/