SAN DIEGO — California just released its annual performance ratings for school districts in the state.
It's called the California School Dashboard and it looks at everything from math scores to chronic absenteeism. The results show some San Diego County districts are definitely making the grade better than others.
Local districts scoring high in academics include the San Dieguito Union High School district, which ranked in the top tier for both English Language Arts and math, Carlsbad Unified, and Poway Unified.
“There’s a lot of work to do post-pandemic,” said Christine Paik, Poway Unified’s Chief Communications Officer. She says every district, regardless of how great their overall test scores are, is facing challenges getting students who aren't performing at grade level to improve.
One thing they've learned is that just focusing on academics doesn't work. You also need to look at the whole child.
“During the pandemic, that isolation, the lack of social-emotional learning - schools have had to really kind of come back and deal with that and then we can talk about test scores,” Paik said. “Then we can talk about academic achievement.”
La Mesa-Spring Valley, Sweetwater Union High, and the Vallecitos Elementary District in Rainbow are among the local districts with below-average scores, but Paik wants to make sure parents understand that test scores are only one piece of the education puzzle for a school to be successful.
“Is there an amazing effort to create culture, belonging, a positive school culture, we're finding, is really impactful in the success of an individual student,” she said.
Of course, kids can't learn if they're not at school, so ending chronic absenteeism has been a huge goal for Poway Unified. They've cut their numbers in half with an individual approach. They’re getting to know each child's issues.
“Is it a bus pass? Is it a ride share? Is it providing emergency food and clothes for some of our most vulnerable families,” Paik added.
CBS 8 reached out to several districts that scored high and low on the state's performance ratings, but they either declined to comment or said, because of holiday schedules, they didn't have anyone available to comment.
A spokesperson for the California Office of Education sent CBS 8 a statement,
“We are encouraged to see clear signs of hope in the California School Dashboard data, including a reversal of the alarming trend in Chronic Absenteeism, which is down by 5.7 percent from last year. In addition, graduation rates remain higher than before the pandemic, and UC A-G eligibility rates are higher than ever before. Yet, our work is far from complete. Now that we have begun to successfully re-engage our students and families in consistent school attendance, we need to apply what we have learned about creating statewide growth to accelerate students’ academic achievement, especially in literacy and math. This is why Superintendent Thurmond continues to champion historic investments in literacy coaches and professional development.”
Click here to see where your school ranks.
WATCH RELATED: Oceanside Unified addressing 'chronic absenteeism' ahead of upcoming school year