California Test Scores Rise Slightly, but Remain Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Fewer than half of California public school students met the state’s proficiency benchmark in any of three tested subjects in 2025-26, according to results released last week by the California Department of Education. English language arts proficiency was 49.3%, math was 38.6% and science was 36%.

All three rates rose from the prior year: 0.5 percentage points in English language arts, 1.3 points in math and 3.3 points in science. But the gains have not brought reading and math back to their pre-pandemic levels. In the comparison figures cited by the California Policy Center, 51.1% of students met the reading benchmark and 39.7% met the math benchmark before the pandemic.

What the results show

The state’s 2025-26 budget allocated $137.6 billion to its TK-12 public school system, $3.8 billion more than the previous year, the California Policy Center said. The group argues that the new scores show the state’s spending on learning-loss mitigation has not restored academic performance to pre-pandemic levels. The score figures do not, by themselves, explain why students are performing below those earlier benchmarks.

The policy center also said results varied sharply among schools and districts, with some schools near 100% proficiency and others below 5%. It did not identify those schools or provide district-level figures in its account of the results.

Why the scoring labels are disputed

California replaced four CAASPP categories—standard not met, standard nearly met, standard met and standard exceeded—with minimal, developing, proficient and advanced. The California Policy Center says the new labels make it easier to present results in a more favorable light.

Lance Izumi, an education expert and author cited by the policy center, criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presentation of the results. Izumi said Newsom grouped students rated developing with those rated proficient or advanced. Developing students do not meet grade-level standards, Izumi said, so combining the categories can make the results appear stronger. The policy center also urged California to join a new federal scholarship tax credit program, which it said could help families pay for tuition, tutoring and special-needs services. The state’s decision on participation has not been announced in the account of the results.

This report draws on information from California Policy Center |.