SAN DIMAS/LA VERNE – Bonita Unified School District students achieved record-setting scores on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in 2022-23, reflecting the District’s success in overcoming the learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to CAASPP results for spring 2023, released by the state on Oct. 18, 72 percent of Bonita Unified students met or exceeded standards in English language arts (ELA) – an all-time high for the District – and 58 percent met or exceeded standards in math, achieving the District’s second-highest math scores of all time. The 2022-23 results also indicate a four-point growth in both ELA and math from the 2021-22 school year.

“We are very encouraged by the growth our students demonstrated during the 2022-23 school year and are thrilled to achieve some of our best scores for proficiency in English language arts and math,” Bonita Unified Superintendent Matt Wien said. “To do so as districts across the state continue to manage the impacts of the pandemic is all the more meaningful, and indicates that adhering to our core values of equity, mastery and a focus on results has been impactful for our students.”

Bonita Unified’s scores, which exceeded state averages by 25 percentage points in ELA and 23 percentage points in math, have maintained the District’s place among the top 10 percent of unified school districts in California.

Anne Neal, Bonita Unified’s Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, credits the District’s continued focus on student mastery of essential standards and its proven continuous improvement model – which were enhanced by differentiated intervention – for its success in getting students back on track following the pandemic.

The District supplemented its existing practices by hiring elementary-level reading and math intervention teachers to provide extra instruction; increasing paraeducator support in classrooms to assist with academic intervention for students; enhancing the District’s robust summer school programs to provide comprehensive instruction at the elementary, middle and high school levels to students needing intervention; and offering additional sections intervention instruction at the secondary schools.

“Every student was impacted in some way by the pandemic, and our District was able to examine those impacts and support their needs by building upon successful systems and processes we already had in place,” Neal said. “These academic gains are a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our teachers and staff, who are deeply committed to ensuring every Bonita Unified student is empowered to achieve their full potential.”

Prior to the pandemic, Bonita Unified’s scores had improved 15 percentage points in both ELA and math over a five-year period – a trajectory of growth that the District will seek to continue in the coming years, Neal said. Bonita Unified’s continued success in fostering reading competency has also earned a No. 1 ranking in the state on the California Reading Coalition’s (CRC) California Reading Report Card for two years in a row, and its history of continued academic achievement has yielded two back-to-back National Blue Ribbon School Awards.

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BUSD_CAASPP_2023: Allen Avenue Elementary students engage in a hands-on math lesson. Bonita Unified School District recorded its highest English language arts (ELA) and second-highest math scores on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress in spring 2023, with 72 percent of students meeting or exceeding ELA standards and 58 percent meeting or exceeding math standards.