School District Reports Mixed Progress on Midyear Academic Goals; 8th Grade Math Targets Exceeded – Pasadena Now

Pasadena Unified School District students are showing gains in reading and math at midyear, though the district fell short of several interim targets for Black and Hispanic students in literacy, according to a presentation scheduled for the Board of Education’s Thursday meeting.

The 48-slide report covers the district’s progress on academic goals adopted by the board in three areas: literacy, mathematics and college and career readiness, as measured primarily by the iReady diagnostic assessment administered this winter. The goals are interim benchmarks on the way to longer-term targets the board set for 2030: 75% of third graders proficient in English Language Arts on the CAASPP state test, 70% of fifth graders and 60% of eighth graders proficient in math, and 75% of graduates qualifying as prepared on the College Career Indicator.

Reading: Growth but goals not met

In reading, the district reported a nine percentage point increase in students placing into on-level placements — defined as mid or above grade level combined with early on grade level — between fall and winter of the 2025-26 school year, moving from 38% to 47% across grades 3 through 8. The share of students at mid or above grade level — the top performance tier — rose from 22% to 29%. Twenty percent of students had already achieved their stretch growth targets by midyear, and all grade levels exceeded the national median for typical growth.

However, the district did not meet its specific midyear targets for its focus subgroups in third grade reading. The district had set a goal of reaching 58% proficiency for Black or African American third graders by February, up from a fall baseline of 34%. Those students showed 12 percentage points of growth from fall, reaching 47% in the combined top two placement tiers — short of the target. Hispanic or Latino third graders grew by 16 percentage points but reached 46%, also below the 53% midyear goal.

Overall, third graders grew by 13 percentage points from the fall baseline.

In a normed comparison, the district’s reading results compared favorably to external benchmarks. The district’s 29% of students at mid or above grade level exceeded the national norm of 27%, the national year-to-date figure of 24% and the California year-to-date figure of 23%. The national and California comparisons drew from 8.9 million and 1.4 million students, respectively, who completed diagnostics between Nov. 16 and Feb. 3.

At the high school level, reading proficiency among the 2,868 students assessed longitudinally rose from 29% at or above grade level in fall to 37% in winter, with the share of students three or more grade levels below dropping from 45% to 38%.

K-2 reading: 79% on track

For the district’s youngest readers in kindergarten through second grade, 79% of the 2,662 students assessed were on track or above on the Amira progress monitoring tool at midyear. Kindergarten and second grade tied for the strongest results, with 82% of students on track or above in each. First grade had the largest share of students in the “catch up” category at 27%.

The district hosted two parent nights focused on early reading this year, drawing more than 100 attendees combined, and reported a 97% completion rate on the midyear benchmark assessment.

Math: 8th grade exceeds targets

Mathematics showed the most dramatic gains at the middle school level. Eighth grade was the standout, with the district exceeding its midyear goals for both focus subgroups. Black or African American eighth graders grew by 19 percentage points — surpassing the midyear target of 27% proficiency — while Hispanic or Latino eighth graders grew by 15 percentage points, also exceeding the 34% target.

Overall, eighth grade math proficiency grew 16 percentage points from fall to winter, with 800 of 943 total eighth graders assessed.

Fifth grade math results were more modest. Black or African American fifth graders grew by six percentage points, falling short of the 36% midyear target, while Hispanic or Latino fifth graders grew by 12 percentage points but did not reach the 40% goal. Overall fifth grade math proficiency grew 15 percentage points.

Across grades 1 through 8 in math, the district reported a 15 percentage point increase in students placing into the combined top two tiers — mid or above grade level and early on grade level — moving from 25% to 40% between fall and winter. The share of students at mid or above grade level alone rose from 11% to 22%. High school math also showed improvement, with the percentage of students three or more grade levels below dropping from 55% to 42% among the 1,602 students assessed.

In the normed math comparison, the district’s 21% of students at mid or above grade level outpaced the California year-to-date figure of 15% and exceeded both the national norm of 17% and the national year-to-date of 16%. However, the district had a higher share of students in the bottom tier — 13% at three or more grade levels below — than the national norm of 9%.

College and career readiness: Close but short

On the College and Career Indicator, the district set midyear goals of moving African American 12th graders from 43% to 50% on track for A-G course completion and Hispanic 12th graders from 38% to 45%.

As of the fourth marking period, African American seniors reached 48% — a five percentage point year-over-year improvement but two points shy of the goal. Hispanic seniors reached 44%, a six-point year-over-year gain but one point below target.

District-wide, 54% of all 12th graders were on track for A-G completion. By subgroup, 78% of white students, 71% of Asian students, 48% of African American students and 44% of Hispanic students were on track.

The district reported that all counseling benchmarks were completed, including setting college and career goals at all secondary schools, sending D/F grade reports with credit recovery options, updating the Aeries student information system to better track students needing IB, AP, CTE or dual enrollment courses, and completing transcript reviews. The district also developed middle school indicators and created a ROSE Dashboard to track whether middle school students are on track.

Actions taken and next steps

The district cited several initiatives driving the results, including more consistent use of adopted high-quality instructional materials, 66 learning walks across all schools between October and February, 838 data chats with students and teachers, and 179.5 hours of ELA coaching with 333 coaching contacts logged.

Middle school iReady Pro usage for reading intervention varied by site: Sierra Madre at 91%, Blair at 87%, Octavia E. Butler at 73% and Eliot at 63%.

Arts integration was also highlighted as a literacy strategy, with programs ranging from early childhood music and movement connecting rhythm to phonemic awareness, to elementary visual arts lessons integrated with HMH reading units, to Creative Wellbeing artist residencies at Rose City High School and CARE programs at McKinley and Pasadena High School.

In math, the district pointed to site-based professional development tied to school goals, participation in the California Mathematics, Science and Computer Science network and the California Math and Curriculum Instruction Network, and GROW by Paper Tutoring for seventh and eighth graders through the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program.

Looking ahead, the district said it plans focused data analysis for Black and African American elementary students to accelerate learning, increased iReady Pro support at middle schools with lower usage, an elementary math curriculum pilot for 2026-27 with potential adoption in 2027-28, and stronger implementation of integrated English Language Development within the curriculum.

The presentation was scheduled for the board’s regular meeting on Thursday, Feb. 26.