State test data: Litchfield posts mixed gains; two schools jump two letter grades

Director of Assessment and Accountability Brian Owen updated trustees on new state assessment releases and school letter grades at the Nov. 18 meeting.

Owen showed five-year trends that place Litchfield’s performance broadly in line with statewide averages, and he reported district ELA proficiency at roughly 49% and math at about 42% in the public files released since the board’s last meeting. He also summarized school letter grades: nine A schools, four B schools and two C schools, with Rancho Santa Fe currently under review pending an appeal for adverse testing conditions after a technology outage affected third‑grade math testing.

Owen noted special cases: Viverado Elementary had a low percent-tested footnote because a box of approximately 80 third‑grade scorable documents did not arrive at the scoring center; those missing materials could affect reported third-grade math proficiency at that school. He also highlighted two strong performers that gained two letter grades year over year and noted three schools ranked in the top 10% of noncharter districts statewide.

Board members congratulated school staff and said they would watch the outcome of the Rancho Santa Fe appeal to see whether the district GPA (currently 3.47; 3.5 is the A threshold) will move higher.

Next steps: staff will monitor the state appeals timeline and report back when the state board issues recommendations in January.