California state test scores for white and Hispanic/Latino students at Santa Barbara Unified—two racial groups who combined make up 90% of the district—have grown steadily since 2021-2022.
But the achievement gap between Hispanic/Latino and white students remains consistently wide.
In the 2025-2026 school year, according to results from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASPP) test, 77% of white students met English proficiency, compared to 39% of Hispanic/Latino students in Santa Barbara Unified. 68% of white students and 30% of Hispanic/Latino students met math proficiency.
The number of Hispanic/Latino students meeting English and math standards increased 1 point and 2 points from the prior school year, respectively.
The gap in English Language Arts proficiency between Hispanic/Latino and white students has ranged from 36-38 points since the 2021-2022 school year. For math, the gap ranges from 35-38 points.
Overall, Santa Barbara Unified School saw a 2-point increase in English Language Arts and 3-point increase in math proficiency. 53% of Santa Barbara Unified students met English proficiency and 44% met math proficiency.
District Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Sonia Wilson presented preliminary results from the 2025-2026 CASPP at the board of trustees’ meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Students take the CASPP in the third through eighth grade and eleventh grade.
Statewide results will be available on Oct. 15.
Districtwide, improvement was seen the most at alternative education schools.
Alta Vista and La Cuesta high schools are two “alternative education” programs within the district, providing more individualized and flexible instruction to students.
The largest gains in English proficiency occurred at Alta Vista Alternative High School (+26 points), La Cuesta Continuation High School (+13 points), and Santa Barbara Community Academy (+9 points).
The largest decreases occurred at Cleveland (-6.6 points), Adams (-6 points) and Monroe (-4 points) elementary schools.
In math, the largest gains were at Alta Vista Alternative High School (+14 points), Santa Barbara Community Academy (+11 points) and Harding University Partnership School (+9 points).
The largest decreases were at McKinley Elementary School (-7 points), San Marcos High School (-4 points), La Cumbre Junior High School (-4 points).
Over the past four years, Harding University Partnership School, Santa Barbara High School and La Colina Junior High School have seen the biggest growth in English proficiency, with 19%, 18%, and 10% improvement, respectively.
Harding has also seen the most growth in math proficiency over the past four-years with a 35-point imprormvent. La Colina follows with a 19-point and Cleveland with a 15-point increase.
McKinley and Monroe have struggled with declining test scores in both math and English for the past four years. McKinley has dropped 6 points in English and 2 points in math proficiency; Monroe has dropped 15 points in English and 4 points in math.
The 2025-2026 school year saw its highest English and math scores mostly at La Colina Junior High School and Washington Elementary.
Washington Elementary School, La Colina Junior High School and Dos Pueblos High School scored the highest in English, with 65%, 71% and 71% of students at or above proficiency, respectively.
La Cuesta Continuation High School with 17%, McKinley Elementary School with 19% and Cleveland Elementary School with 29% of students meeting English proficiency fared the lowest in the district.
La Colina Junior High, Washington Elementary and Harding University Partnership scored the highest, with 67%, 61% and 54% meeting or exceeding proficiency, respectively.
The lowest scoring schools were La Cuesta Continuation with 6%, McKinley Elementary with 15% and Alta Vista High with 23% at or above proficiency.
The district said it plans to improve performance through initiatives such as an expanded K-6 literacy screening, English language development professional learning and targeted reading and mathematics interventions.
A breakdown of test results at each school can be found here.
