SACRAMENTO- Today, members of the Assembly Republican Caucus sent a letter to Superintendent of California Schools Tony Thurmond and the California Department of Education urging them to provide an immediate release date and an explanation for the delay for the results of the “Smarter Balanced” English, math and science statewide tests.

“As an mom, educator, and longtime special needs advocate, I know that early detection and treatment is always the best approach to addressing learning deficits. I am infuriated at CDE for their irresponsible and negligent refusal to release this data in a timely manner. We all know that COVID-19 school closures led to learning loss. The right thing to do is release the data so that parents and stakeholders can better plan interventions to reverse and improve student outcomes.”
-Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares

“Publicly available test scores allow parents to make informed choices about their child’s education. We all need to be aware of student’s progress and recovery from the COVID school closures. Preventing the public from seeing these scores raises questions about just how poorly students are actually performing and does nothing to help our declining enrollment problem. Obscuring this information on how students are faring for any reason is completely unacceptable. “
-Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher

The California Department of Education (CDE) has delayed the public release of the 2022 Smarter Balanced scores until an undetermined date in the fall, which is a stark departure from the last seven years of testing. Preliminary 2022 results from Los Angeles Unified School District show a record decline in scores from before the pandemic. 

The CDE has stated they are delaying the release of these results until they roll out the California School Dashboard, which compiles information on student demographic data and rates of chronic absenteeism, though in most years, Smarter Balanced results were released within the first two months of the student’s next grade to determine their progress. 
 

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