New data released by the California Department of Education shows progress in academic achievement and graduation rates and a decline in chronic absenteeism across the state. Locally, the Ceres Unified School District saw a marked decline in absenteeism and suspension rates, and recorded increases in mathematics and English language arts.

The 2024 California School Dashboard and accompanying DataQuest reports are now online, and includes the latest data on graduation rates, suspension rates, test scores, English learner progress, the college/career indicator, chronic absenteeism, and local indicators.

“Across California, we’re seeing that when we provide for the most vulnerable in our communities all students reap the rewards,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “Our migrant students and socioeconomically disadvantaged students show marked improvements in consistent school attendance and graduation rates, reflecting the dedication of our educators and students alike. It’s especially encouraging to see more students earning distinctions like the State Seal of Biliteracy, a skill that is increasingly vital to success in an increasingly globalized economy. Yet, we know there is still much work to be done to ensure every student has the support and resources needed to succeed. We must not waver in our commitment to education and our dedication to serve every child.”

Key findings across the state include: 

• All student groups show significant increases in consistently attending schools, with a 16.7 percent year-over-year decline in chronic absenteeism.

• There is continued statewide growth in student graduation rates, with the largest cohort of students graduating K–12 schools since 2017.

• Over 10,000 students graduated in their fifth year during 2023–24 as members of the class of 2023.

• Upon graduating, students are earning distinctions such as the State Seal of Biliteracy at higher rates than ever.

• Suspension rates have declined for every student group, though there is a need for a continued focus on disparities in suspension for Black/African American students, foster youth, Long-Term English Learners, homeless youth, and students with disabilities.

• College and career readiness has been maintained for all students and increased for specific student groups, narrowing equity gaps for Black/African American students, American Indian/Alaska Native students, and Long-Term English Learners.

The four-year cohort graduation rate for the class of 2024 is 86.4 percent, representing a slight increase from last year and a higher rate than pre-pandemic levels. Graduation rates are largely stable, trending upward for many student groups, especially migrant students and socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

The 2023–24 four-year adjusted cohort also included more graduates who meet the University of California/California State University admission requirements than prior to the pandemic, with 227,463 students (51.4 percent of graduates) eligible for admission at California’s public universities. This represents a continued increase from the prior year, when 50.4 percent of graduates were eligible for UC/CSU admission. 

Students statewide earned 64,261 State Seals of Biliteracy during the 2023–24 academic year, a 2.3 percent increase from 2022–23 and the largest number of students ever earning this distinction. The State Seal of Biliteracy, marked by a gold seal on the diploma or transcript, recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing one or more languages in addition to English.

The Dashboard results are presented in five color-coded levels of performance from red to blue with red being the worst, then orange, with yellow in the middle, followed by green and then blue being the best. The performance levels are determined using current year and prior year data. Along with the color performance level, each assessment area also receives one of three ratings — met, not met, not met for two or more years.

The Ceres Unified School District — with an enrollment of 13,348 total across its campuses — had mixed marks in the 2024 Dashboard results. For academic performance, the district had an increase in English Language Arts (yellow), rising 5.8 percent to be at 42.6 points below standard but better than statewide. Also, CUSD found itself in the orange for mathematics, even though it saw an increase by 2.8 points, leaving the district at 83.8 points below the state standard. CUSD went in a negative direction with English learner progress, ending up in orange by declining by 2.3 percent to see only 44.4 percent making progress.

CUSD’s dashboard shows that only 33.9 percent of students are prepared for college or career while 46.1 percent are not. Another 20 percent are considered to be approached prepared. Students who have disabilities are learning English are the least prepared and in the red category. White students fared slightly better but Asian students are in the green.

Chronic absenteeism declined 6.1 percent for CUSD, to land in the yellow level. The dashboard showed the district improved in getting students to attend but 14.8 percent remain chronically absent, which fares better when compared to the statewide average of 18.6 percent which grew worse than the year before by 5.7 percent. 

Ceres also saw a continuation of successive years of boosting graduation rates. CUSD saw a slight increase (1.6 percent) in graduation rates to register in the green level. The dashboard notes that 92.3 percent of CUSD seniors graduate. By contrast the graduation rate in 2019 was 87 percent. Homeless students didn’t fare as well with a higher level of failing to graduate. 

The suspension rate for Ceres also declined (0.7 percent) to remain in the green. The report notes that CUSD saw 2.5 percent of students suspended at least one day for the year. In 2019 that number was 4.5 percent.

The district also received a “standard met” rating for “Implementation of Academic Standards,” “Access to Broad Course of Study,” “Basics: Teachers, Instructional Materials, Facilities,” “Parent and Family Engagement” and “Local Climate Survey.”

When comparing the two biggest high schools, Ceres High School was in the green in terms of college/career prep, graduation rate (94.2 percent), English learner progress and suspension rate but yellow in English language arts and orange in math. Central Valley High School was in the blue (highest level) for graduation rate with a 96.1 percent graduation rate. CVHS was green in English language arts and suspension rate; yellow in math; and orange in college/career prep and in English learner progress. 

The complete Dashboard results for TUSD and other local districts can be found at: caschooldashboard.org.