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Ravenswood City School District’s test scores are slowly improving as the district progresses in its Ravenswood Promise initiative to reimagine and transform its schools.
By 2029, the district is aiming to have at least 30% of its students reach proficiency in English language arts and math. Last school year, just 7% of Ravenwood students hit that benchmark in math and 12% achieved it in English.
That’s based on test scores the California Department of Education released last month. The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress tests third through eighth grade students in English and math.
During the 2024-25 school year, 12.08% of Ravenswood students scored proficient or advanced in English, an increase of 3.48 percentage points from the year before. In math, 7.13% of students scored proficient or advanced, an improvement of 1.03 percentage points from the previous year.
Despite the increases, Ravenswood’s scores in both English and math remain below pre-pandemic levels. In the 2018-2019 school year, 18.17% of Ravenswood students met or exceeded state standards in English and 11.91% hit that level in math.
Ravenswood’s test scores do not include the performance of students at its two charter schools, KIPP Valiant Community Prep and Aspire East Palo Alto.
Last year’s spike in English proficiency was the first time Ravenswood has seen performance in the subject improve since the pandemic. Superintendent Gina Sudaria attributed that boost to the district’s recent focus on delivering foundational literacy skills to elementary school students. Schools are also ensuring that reading interventions are provided to all students who are behind.
In order to drive academic achievement, Ravenswood is closely monitoring student performance through assessment systems such as iReady and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, also known as DIBELS.
Ravenswood’s test scores have historically been significantly below state and county averages, as well as neighboring school districts. Last school year, 58.38% of San Mateo County students scored proficient or advanced in English and 51.32% scored proficient or advanced in math.
However, Ravenswood has a student body that differs substantially from nearby districts. The vast majority of Ravenswood’s students, 92%, are considered socio-economically disadvantaged by the state and over half are in the process of learning English.
But under Sudaria’s leadership and with the establishment of the Ravenswood Promise, the district has recognized that its instructional strategies have not been effective and change is needed.
“We know in the past we have produced some students who were illiterate and that no longer is going to be happening here in Ravenswood,” Sudaria said.
The improved scores last school year “reflect the (district’s) strategic work and clear focus,” she explained. Coming out of the pandemic, it was clear to the district that its instructional strategies were “not moving the needle.”
“Many students have been successful in our system, but not the majority,” Sudaria said. “Our Ravenswood Promise is to ensure that every single child reaches their potential, and there is no reason why we cannot have them be proficient.”
The Ravenswood Promise is a community action plan that was launched in 2023 to improve the educational experience within the district by increasing connection with families and prioritizing attendance, language and literacy, and teacher retention.
So far this school year, the district has reached an average attendance rate of 92.8%, according to its attendance dashboard. Ravenwood’s goal is to reach 96% in the next two to three years.
Although test scores are below pre-pandemic levels, Sudaria highlighted the improvements that Ravenswood has seen, especially for minority students.
Last school year, 22.91% of Black students scored proficient or advanced in English, a nearly three-fold improvement compared to 8.51% in the year before. Substantial improvements were seen in math, with 18.75% of Black students scoring proficient or advanced, compared to 8.69% in the 2023-24 school year.
While the increases were large, Black students make up a relatively small portion of Ravenswood’s student body. Fewer than 50 Black students took the standardized tests last school year. Though the state reports test results for any group with more than 10 students, the data for smaller groups is much more volatile over time.
Latino students make up over 80% of Ravenswood’s population. These students also saw improvement last year, with 10.95% scoring proficient or advanced in English, compared to 7.68% the previous year. In math, Latino students’ performance saw less change, increasing slightly from 5.34% scoring proficient or advanced in the 2023-24 school year to 5.86% last year.
Improvements behind the scenes
In order for the district to work toward its goal of improving academic achievement across all grade levels, educators are making changes to their teaching methods and honing in on how to create effective lesson plans, Sudaria said.
Ravenswood is getting “everyone on board” to successfully implement new curriculum and to use evidence-based methods for teaching foundational literacy skills, she added. Professional development days are also serving as opportunities for educators to learn from each other, workshop effective delivery of instruction and to provide feedback for improvement.
“Change is really challenging, especially when you are doing your very best,” Sudaria said. “(Teachers) are pulling the layers back and exposing what is going well and exposing what potentially can be improved upon. That’s hard work emotionally.”
To be able to support the students, the district has to support its teachers, Sudaria said.
The district is ensuring that educators feel positive about working for the district, that they are receiving feedback that is helping them grow professionally and that they are being seen and supported by their colleagues and supervisors, she added.
By retaining teachers, Ravenswood is able to provide consistency and clear expectations for students and families as they progress through grade levels. When there is less teacher turnover, children can stay hopeful about seeing familiar faces and recognize who their teachers will be as they move up.
The district is also prioritizing building foundational literacy skills in early grade levels from transitional kindergarten through second grade. By ensuring that students are proficient or close to proficient early on, it allows third through sixth grade educators to build upon that, according to Sudaria.
“I am proud that we know every child’s reading performance and not just measured by the CAASPP and iReady,” she said
Teachers and principals are “laser focused on the data,” allowing them to track individual student progress and needs, to redirect them toward success.
“I wish we can say we’ll match Menlo Park (City School District) next year, but in reality, we really need to see the growth, and that’s why this year, our goal is to decrease the distance from (state) standard by 15-plus points, and then we’re going to see the ripple effect,” she said.
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“I am proud that we know every child’s reading performance and not just measured by the CAASPP and iReady,” she (Superintedant Sudaria) said.
This is how you move the needle. One data comparison that I didn’t see called out, but was curious about based on the included graph:
What was Ravenswood’s growth compared to the rest of the county and state? It looks like it was a steeper uptick for Ravenswood schools.
And last, it is not surprising that students score differently now than pre-covid because anyone working in a school can tell you that the kids are different. Behavior issues have seen an uptick everywhere. If kids aren’t functioning the same way, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they aren’t learning the same either. I’d love to see a wider focus on the state of schooling than just pre/post pandemic scores. Schools don’t operate in a vacuum.