Fresno Unified School District reports student improvement in a preliminary assessment of the 2024-25 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium scores.

About 37% of students tested met or exceeded standards in English Language Arts, and 27% met or exceeded math standards. That marked a 2% increase in both sections from the previous year — nearing pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, 38% of students met ELA standards and almost 30% met math standards.

“We’re encouraged by the preliminary results from the 2024–25 Smarter Balanced Assessment, which reflect the hard work of our students, teachers, and school leaders,” said district Chief Academic Officer Carlos Castillo. “While we still have a lot of work to do, the upward trend in student performance is a positive sign. These scores help us identify areas of strength and growth, and we use them to guide instructional planning, professional development, and targeted support for students.”

The district categorized the data by region, grade, ethnicity, and student group — helping pinpoint students needing extra support.

Generally, there were improvements across the board. But some ethnic and student groups saw their test scores fall.

In particular, English learners and foster youth struggled, their ELA scores dropping by more than 2%, with math scores also dipping.

Additionally, Filipino student scores dropped by more than 6% in both math and ELA.

However, reclassified students — pupils who have been moved from EL to English proficient — saw great improvement. Their math and ELA scores improved by 3%, respectively. And Pacific Islander student scores improved by more than 6% in both subject areas.

Fresno Unified Identifies Highest Preforming Schools

Recently, the district implemented a strategy of identifying high performing school sites and sharing their techniques with others.

“(High-preforming schools) are going to become our leaders who are going to help our other schools grow,” Superintendent Misty Her told the School Board last month. “Site leaders from these successful schools will share their strategies and best practices.”

The district’s specialty region, consisting of specialty schools such as Manchester Gate and Duncan Polytech, achieved the highest ELA scores (62.6%). The Edison High School region performed best in math (38%).

Fresno Unified also identified individual school sites that performed best by school level and within each region. Sites which showed the most improvement were also acknowledged.