Although incremental progress can be seen in several key measures, the state has not returned to pre-COVID-19 student achievement levels on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC).

For the first time, California released test results for the 2025-26 CAASPP and ELPAC alongside California School Dashboard data, which tracks progress on measures such as absenteeism. The CDE says the coordinated release provides families, educators, and policymakers with a more comprehensive picture of student and school performance. EdTrust West praised the timeliness of the data early in the year, so actions can be taken sooner, but said the results make clear that more needs to be done.

“Clearly, the status quo is not working for our students,” said Rachel Ruffalo, deputy director of Strategic Advocacy at EdTrust West, in an e-mail to subscribers. “We need leaders willing to sustain investments in proven strategies and take bold steps forward. Local leaders should use this data now to target support where it’s needed before another school year slips by.”

Key results from California’s 2025–26 statewide assessment and student outcome data include:

English Language Arts: The percent of students scoring Proficient and Advanced increased 0.5 percentage points to 49.3 percent.

Mathematics: The percent of students scoring Proficient and Advanced increased 1.1 percentage points to 38.4 percent.

Science: The percent of students scoring Proficient and Advanced increased 3.3 percentage points to 36.0 percent.

Graduation: The statewide graduation rate reached 87.9 percent, the highest level in the past decade.

College/Career Readiness: California increased the percent of students prepared by their high schools and districts for college and career to 55.2 percent, up 2 percentage points. Chronic Absenteeism:

The statewide chronic absenteeism rate declined by 1.1 percentage points to 18.3 percent.

Suspension: The statewide suspension rate declined to 2.8 percent, marking the third consecutive year of improvement.

Science showed the strongest statewide improvement, with the percentage of students Proficient or Advanced increasing 3.3 percentage points. Science performance improved across all tested grades, with the strongest score trend at the high school level.

Eighth grade was another academic bright spot, posting the strongest score trends in both ELA and mathematics. While ELA and mathematics continued to improve statewide, the rate of growth was more modest than in 2024–25.

The results also show encouraging progress among several student groups. African American students demonstrated larger-than-average improvements across ELA, mathematics, and science and positive ELA score trends across almost every tested grade. Hispanic or Latino students demonstrated larger-than-average improvements in ELA and mathematics and positive mathematics score trends across all grades. Students who were socioeconomically disadvantaged also made gains across all three subjects. However, the performance of Black and Latino students remains far below their White and Asian counterparts, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students continue to trail their higher-income peers.

“Today’s results tell a story of continued progress, but also of the work that remains ahead,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the California State Board of Education. “These results reflect the dedication of California’s educators and students, as well as the impact of sustained investments in learning recovery, literacy, and mathematics, community schools, expanded learning, and whole-child supports. Our responsibility now is to build on this momentum and ensure that progress reaches every student and every community.”