California gets a "D" for lack of school performance data
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California is among the majority of states that are failing to provide accessible, transparent school performance data on student learning loss from COVID-19 shutdowns, a new study finds.
Why it matters: The lack of data makes it difficult for parents to choose a school for their child by relying on state report cards mandated by federal law or for parents to put pressure on struggling schools.
Driving the news: The study by Arizona State University's Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) released last week found that most states make it hard to find pre-COVID data to compare how far behind today's students are.
- CRPE, using a system it developed to grade state websites, found that 35 states earned a "C" or worse when it came to making data available.
- 13 states received "F" grades, with Maine, New Mexico and North Dakota earning zero out of the 21 points possible under the grading system.
- Just seven states got "A" grades.
Between the lines: California's "D" rating was due to academic performance and engagement data comparisons over time being difficult to find or being not available.
- Those measures include chronic absenteeism, graduation rates, and proficiency in English and other school subjects.
- Extracting data behind the dashboards is also challenging, per the report.
Yes, but: The state earned a "fair" grade for the overall usability of its report card website, and the report cards for school districts are easy to navigate and consistent in presentation.
Zoom in: San Diego Unified's recent report card showed chronic absenteeism declined during the 2022-23 school year, while high school graduation rates and test scores stayed stagnant.
- Chronic absenteeism is still higher than it was pre-pandemic, and it's more prevalent among students of color.
- Academically, SD Unified outperformed other major urban California school districts, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The report card for San Francisco Unified also showed chronic absenteeism declined during the 2022-23 school year, though it's nearly double pre-pandemic levels and similarly more prevalent among students of color.
- Meanwhile, the percentage of students who were suspended ticked up while graduation rates decreased.
Caveat: California has two systems, the School Accountability Report Card and the California School Dashboard.
- The CPRE report evaluated the dashboard because researchers felt it was more likely to be used by parents and other stakeholders, but the other system would have received the same grades.
The big picture: Following the pandemic, student absenteeism skyrocketed, achievement gaps grew, graduation rates fluctuated and English learner proficiency suffered.
- School closings also exposed deep systemic inequalities in school technology access, teacher shortages and transportation. Failures to report the pandemic's lasting effects hurt efforts to address them.
The intrigue: The report followed the Biden administration's call for governors and state education leaders to create statewide systems for chronic absenteeism-related data.
- The administration issued new school improvement guidance Sept. 4 to accelerate academic achievement.
What they're saying: The manipulation of data or the refusal by some states and districts to report it makes it hard to get an accurate picture of what's going on in public schools, Morgan Polikoff, an education professor at USC Rossier who led the CRPE research, tells Axios.
- "We've been doing testing and accountability for like two decades, and the fact that you still have so much data that's just missing, or even if it's there, you have to have a Ph.D. in education policy, is problematic."
What we're watching: Education advocates and parents could pressure the next administration to drop the partisan culture fights around education and bring back bipartisan coalitions that shaped accountability measures.