S.B. Unified Schools Continue to Improve in Academic Performance, Attendance, Graduation Rates

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Santa Barbara Unified schools are seeing key metrics improve in newly released data from the California Department of Education.

The California Dashboard, released this Thursday, highlights attendance, graduation rates, academic performance, and more. 

English Language Arts and Mathematics data is measured by how far, on average, students are from the lowest possible score to meet the standard for the subject. This metric shows how much above or below the expected grade level performance students achieved overall, with a higher number indicating a greater distance from the standard. Academic highlights include:

• English Language Arts: Slight improvement for the second year in a row to 5.5 points below the standard. The state average is 13.2 points below the standard.
• Mathematics: Improved for the second year in a row to 36 points below the standard. This is higher than the state average of 47.8 points below the standard.

Below are other key highlights for the District: 

• Chronic Absenteeism: For the second year in a row, the District’s chronic absenteeism rate declined. It is at 16.9% for 2023-24, which is an 8% decrease from 2021-2022. A decline is a measure of success. 
• College & Career Readiness: Increased for the second year in a row to 60.7% in the Class of 2024, which is higher than 54.4% reported in the Class of 2019. The state reports an average of 45.3% of students statewide being College and Career Ready.
• Emergent Multilingual Learner Progress: Increased 1.7% to 46.9% making progress, which is higher than the state, which saw a decrease to 45.7%
  • Graduation Rate: The percentage of students graduating from high school at SB Unified increased from 92%, to 92.4%. That is higher than the state average of 86.7%. 

While all schools have made improvements, here are some key school improvements:

• Franklin Elementary
  • English Language Arts- 3.9 points above standard
    • Increased 17.9 points
  • Mathematics- 3.3 points above standard
    • Increased 21.5 points
  • Emergent Multilingual Learner Progress: 72% making progress
    • Increased 26.3%
• Washington Elementary
  • English Language Arts: 25.3 points above standard
    • Increased 13.9 points
  • Mathematics: 5 points above standard
    • Increased 14.9 points
  • Emergent Multilingual Learner Progress: 46.5% making progress
    • Increased 11.1%
• La Colina
  • English Language Arts: 37.7 points above standard
    • Increased 4.1 points
  • Mathematics: 13.5 points above standard
    • Increased 1.1 points
• Dos Pueblos
  • English Language Arts: 43.1 points above standard
  • Mathematics: 12.6 points below standard
    • Increased 9 points
  • Emergent Multilingual Learner Progress: 61.2% making progress
    • Increased 7%
  • College/Career Readiness: 71.9% prepared
    • Increased 2.6%

“I am proud of the outstanding work our students, teachers, staff, and administrators are doing to increase achievement. The improving data reflects the collective efforts to enhance curriculum, align practices across schools, and provide meaningful professional development. Thanks to everyone’s contributions, our District is continuing to trend in the right direction, and most importantly, our students are thriving.” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, Superintendent. 

The California School Dashboard was created to help communities easily access important information about transitional kindergarten through grade twelve schools and districts. A guide to help parents understand the Dashboard is available here.