Reed district test scores dip slightly from pre-pandemic

Standardized test scores in the Reed Union School District show a slight decline in students’ overall English and math proficiency compared with pre-pandemic levels, as well as the widening of an already persistent achievement gap — though the district’s students continue to score significantly higher than their peers across the county and state on the annual exam.

Some 81 percent of Reed district students met or exceeded grade-level standards in English, 74 percent in math, according to the results released last week by the California Department of Education.

That’s down from the 84 percent of students who met or exceeded English standards and 79 percent for math in 2019, the last year the full exam was administered statewide.

Last year’s test was optional amid the pandemic, and the Reed district administered a shortened version of the exam, called the Smarter Balanced Test, with 80 percent of students displaying proficiency in English, 76 percent in math. The test was canceled entirely in 2020 as COVID-19 began to spread and abruptly prompted the closure of campuses across the county and state, forcing students into distance learning.

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