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Long Beach Unified board accepts monitoring report showing mixed progress on math gap; some schools post notable gains
Summary
Long Beach Unified trustees unanimously accepted a monitoring report showing Interim Goal 3C is a baseline year for new district math assessments. Staff highlighted several secondary and elementary 'outlier' schools where Black/African American students outperformed peers and outlined coaching, item analysis and a 'year zero' curriculum adoption plan to scale those practices.
The Long Beach Unified School District board on Wednesday accepted a monitoring report for Interim Goal 3C that treats the current year as a baseline while staff study new district math assessments and plan next steps to close persistent racial achievement gaps.
Board member Dr. Baker opened the report by restating Board Goal 3: to have more than 80% of Black/African American students meet the Algebra A‑G requirement and reduce a 5% proficiency gap to zero by June 2028. Staff told trustees that because district assessments are new this year, the district will treat 3C as a baseline and run correlation studies with SBAC after the fourth quarter assessment.
The report identified several 'reverse gap' outlier schools as sources of learning. Mr. Samuels highlighted six secondary campuses where Black/African American students outperformed all other students on the district quarter‑three exam, led by Cabrillo (+13%), CAMS (+9%), Renaissance (+4%), McBride (+2), Jordan (+1) and Newcomb (+1). He said the district will study the practices at those schools to identify scalable strategies.
"We are really excited about what they're doing," Mr. Samuels said, pointing to principal supervision, accountability conversations about race and data, Breakthrough Success Communities focused on ninth grade, and interventions such as math development classes.
Staff also named nine elementary schools showing similar patterns (Alvarado, Barton, Burbank, Garfield, King, Lincoln, Los Cerritos, Madison, Roosevelt and Webster) and described shared practices: culturally responsive instruction, collaborative teacher reflection and coaching, consistent use of data analysis, and explicit efforts to build a sense of belonging for Black students.
District leaders outlined immediate steps to build on those successes: undertake item analysis after each quarter to assess rigor, expand number‑sense routines and formative assessments, ensure teachers use data to target small‑group supports, and increase job‑embedded coaching. Mr. Samuels said the district reached 78% of algebra teachers this past summer (about 80 of 119) in a week‑long professional learning series led by Dr. Pamela Seda and that ongoing, multi‑week in‑class coaching will continue.
Staff also previewed a "year zero" phase ahead of a formal adoption of high‑quality math instructional materials. They said year zero focuses on aligning administrators and teachers to the instructional vision, clarifying observation protocols and preparing for full implementation so the district can scale instruction with greater fidelity.
After board members asked for grade‑level gap breakdowns and more precise monitoring metrics, President Craighead called for a motion. The board moved, seconded and approved acceptance of the Interim Goal 3C monitoring report by a 5–0 vote.
The district plans to return with quarter‑four data and a correlation analysis between district assessments and SBAC scores. Trustees said they want follow‑up reports on grade‑level gaps and on how positive outlier practices are being documented and replicated across schools.
