Visalia Unified reports gains on priority student outcomes and 2024–25 CAST results

Deputy Superintendent Mark Thompson presented the district’s Year 0 priority student outcomes (PSOs) and 2024–25 results from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAST). Thompson said the PSOs will be the district’s five‑year targets and described Year 0 as the baseline and orientation year for implementation.

On the CAST results, Thompson reported Visalia Unified’s English language arts proficiency at just over 46% compared with a state rate of about 48%, and math proficiency at about 30% versus the state at 37%. He said district growth measures ('distance from standard') showed notable increases: a 9.3‑point increase in ELA and a 5.9‑point increase in math that moved the district into the state’s yellow performance band. Thompson highlighted subgroup gains: the Hispanic subgroup and socioeconomically disadvantaged students each rose by roughly 10 points toward distance from standard; English learners increased by 4.8 points; students with disabilities rose by about 12.6 points. He said these gains reduced the number of student groups in the lowest (red) band.

Thompson also flagged an apparent decline in one English‑learner growth metric (a 4% drop) that was in part caused by accelerated reclassification (856 students reclassified), which removes those students from the EL measurement cohort. He told the board the administration will return in January with a discussion about whether the metric accurately measures the progress the district wants to track.

Board members asked clarifying questions about metric definitions (Lexile/Quantile vs. CAST proficiency) and measurement timing; Thompson confirmed additional reporting and promised follow-up in January. The presentation concluded with the district committing to ongoing analysis and a biannual strategic plan update.