Newsom claims gains in student achievement in California, analyst disagrees

California Gov. Gavin Newsom claims academic gains and student achievement, but an education analyst says the state’s results for test scores mask persistent academic shortcomings, with fewer than half of students scoring proficient or above in English language arts, math and science.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the progress reflects state investments in education, including universal transitional kindergarten, expanded learning opportunities, literacy and math support, community schools and universal school meals.

“The continued progress we are seeing is a testament to the hard work of students, families and educators across the state,” Newsom said in a statement.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said California had expanded student support and educational opportunities but acknowledged that academic improvement remains a challenge.

“These investments have laid an important foundation, but we must do more to translate them into stronger academic outcomes,” Thurmond said in a statement.

State assessment results showed, according to the governor's press release, that student achievement in ELA scores grew overall to 71% in ELA, 61.8% in mathematics, and 86.5% in science.

Lance Izumi, senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute in Pasadena, criticized the state’s presentation of student achievement data, arguing that combining students who are near proficiency with those who meet or exceed standards can obscure academic shortcomings.

“Near proficiency is not proficiency!” Izumi told The Center Square.

Izumi argued that grouping students approaching proficiency with proficient students could make overall results appear stronger than they are. State figures show that a majority of students did not meet proficiency standards in English language arts, mathematics or science.

Broken down, that is 49.3% of students scored proficient or advanced in English language arts, a 0.5 percentage-point increase from the previous year. In math, 38.4% met those benchmarks, up about 1.1 percentage points. In science, 36% scored proficient or advanced, an increase of 3.3 percentage points.

The English and math results remain below pre-pandemic levels recorded during the 2018-19 school year, when 51.7% of students met proficiency standards in English language arts and 39.7% did so in mathematics.

California has invested substantial public funding in education, with the figures provided estimating spending at about $150 billion, or roughly $27,000 per student.

Izumi pointed to the National Assessment of Educational Progress results for 2024 that showed achievement gaps. In California, 29% of fourth graders scored proficient in reading and 35% in math. Among eighth graders, 28% scored proficient in reading and 25% in math.

“He (Newsom) wants to make it appear that there are these huge groups of kids that are doing just fine in school when that really is masking the fact that there is still a majority of kids who are not proficient,” Izumi said. “It doesn't matter if they're going towards proficiency. They're not at proficiency. And so to claim that those kids who are supposedly near proficiency and to group those with the kids who are at or above proficient is really just a sleight of hand, meant to bolster his numbers, to make his education program look like it's a success when it really hasn't been.”

The Center Square reached out to Newsom’s office for further comment but did not receive a response.