San Luis Coastal Unified reports modest ELA gain, small math dip in preliminary CAASPP results

San Luis Coastal Unified officials presented preliminary 2025 CAASPP results to the board on Sept. 2, reporting that 67% of tested students met or exceeded English language arts standards while 56% met or exceeded in math.

The districtsaid the ELA rate represents modest multi-year improvement but that overall math proficiency edged down 2 percentage points from 2024. A presenter for the district told the board that a pronounced decline in one cohort from 4th to 5th gradelargely drove the math dip and is the focus of targeted follow-up analysis. "Students who transitioned from that 4th to 5th, we looked at that distance from standard really going much lower," the presenter said, calling the 4th-to-5th drop "something we're actively doing" to investigate.

The presentation used Parsec analytics to show three-year trends, disaggregated subgroup performance and "distance from standard" measures the district said give a more granular view of student growth than pass/fail cut points. The presenters highlighted subgroup gains in some areas: Filipino, African American, socioeconomically disadvantaged, students with disabilities and foster youth showed pockets of growth in ELA across the three-year window. "These are the upward trends that we want to see," a presenter said.

Board members and site leaders pressed for claim-level data and how schools will translate the analysis into classroom supports. In response, the district said Parsec will let staff and principals drill down to individual students and strands within the assessments to identify whether the decline reflects particular standards, grade-level curriculum issues or other local factors. "The more data that we have, the better we can address some of those needs," the presenter said, adding the stateclaim-level data will be available soon and district teams will use it to refine Tier 1 instruction and intervention plans.

Principals who spoke during the meeting gave site-level context. Baywood Elementaryreported positive distance-from-standard growth for recent cohorts despite lower absolute proficiency rates for some English-learner subgroups; San Luis Obispo High discussed enrollment shifts and equity questions around a-g and AP access.

Next steps: the district said it will present deeper analyses to the board after the state releases fuller claim-level data, continue principal-led PLCs and MTSS meetings to target interventions, and bring updated metrics to the board in coming weeks.