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CSBA calls on state to better support schools working to close the achievement gap

New CAASPP results show incremental gains but underscore need for deeper, more coherent state strategy to better support the work of LEAs to close achievement gaps

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Oct. 10, 2025) – CSBA’s CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy issued the following statement in response to the release of the 2025 results from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASP):

“For decades, the State of California has held local governing boards accountable through various mechanisms, including, for example, audits and state mandates, but has never held its agencies or policymaking bodies accountable for the quality and accessibility of the support and assistance provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) laboring to improve student achievement,” CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy said in a statement. “The state has not created a comprehensive, coherent plan to hold itself accountable for its own role in closing the achievement gap, instead it relies on unfunded or underfunded mandates and, at times, the implementation of disparate funding programs to implement a desired approach.

CSBA is calling on state leaders to hold their agencies and policymaking bodies more accountable for the level and quality of support they provide LEAs in closing the achievement gap. This approach is not only about a system change, but a dynamic change in mindset. CSBA believes it's time for the state to turn from a compliance approach toward a 'customer service or concierge' approach to help — not direct — LEAs,” Billy continued. “This service-oriented mindset must be self-reflective and focus on examining and establishing benchmarks, goals, standards and regular evaluations of the measures the state itself will take to change its operations in order to help LEAs close the achievement gap.”

CSBA believes the state has the capacity to make this shift and point to the efforts of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) but believes the state needs to look more inward at their aggregate policymaking decisions, operations and levels of support to LEAs. “Ultimately, the state needs to hold themselves accountable for how all of their decisions impact the ability of LEAs to improve student outcomes and close the achievement gap,” Billy stated. 

CSBA’s call to action

During an Oct. 9 webinar attended by education leaders, policymakers, and media, the California School Boards Association (CSBA) called for the State of California to adopt a coherent, state-level plan for how it will better support the work of local educational agencies (LEAs) to close achievement gaps. The announcement coincided with the release of the 2025 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) results, which showed modest gains and a narrowing of some achievement gaps, but also revealed massive performance differences between student groups, demonstrated that student performance has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels and showed that millions of California students are failing to reach proficiency.

CSBA is calling for a reframing of the conversation from local accountability alone to one where the state is held accountable for state policy and budget actions that impact the ability of LEAs to improve student achievement. The association is calling on the state to:

• Develop and adopt a coherent state-level plan for closing the achievement gap that delineates what the state is going to do differently to support LEAs, including annual benchmarks and transparent reporting on the state’s actions
• Embed state-level measures to close the gap within the Governor’s budget and pass legislation explicitly aimed at augmenting the state’s ability to support LEAs in lifting the performance of struggling student groups
• Require the Legislative Analyst's Office to produce regular assessments on the progress and efficacy of state programs aimed at closing the achievement gap
• Host legislative hearings and create a public “State of the Gap” dashboard to track progress over time
• Hold state agencies accountable for ensuring their policies and decisions enable LEAs rather than constrain them

Pick up the pace

Despite broad improvement, just 48.8 percent of all students scored as advanced or proficient in English language arts (ELA) and 37.3 percent hit the mark in math. Only a third of Black students attained proficiency in ELA and just one-fifth met the standard in math. Among Latino students, almost 39 percent tested proficient or advanced in ELAand just over a quarter did in math.

By comparison, 61.8 percent of white students were proficient or advanced in English and 51 percent cleared that bar in math. Among Asian students, 74.4 percent met or exceeded standards in English and 70.3 percent did so in math.

Although proficiency rates for Black and Latino students rose between 2 and 2.4 percent from the 2024 results — a hopeful sign — it would take decades at the current pace for scores in those groups to approach those of their white and Asian peers. And while the racial achievement gap shrank slightly, the socioeconomic achievement gap ticked upward as the scores of affluent students continued to pull away from those recorded by students in low-income families. On balance, a promising trend marked by incremental growth underscores the need for increased action at the state-level — both through its own agencies and by virtue of its policymaking and operations — to accelerate closure of achievement gaps that have persisted over generations, costing California critical intellectual, economic and social capital.

Next steps

In the weeks ahead, CSBA will release deeper subgroup analyses and preview the State of the Gap Scorecard, an annual public assessment of state actions and progress. CSBA is urging state leaders, legislators and the public to support the development of a comprehensive state-level plan with targeted resources for supporting LEAs, clear goals and transparent accountability focused on what the state itself will do differently to better support LEAs in their ongoing work to close the achievement gap.