New Reading Data from WCCUSD: How Are Students Progressing?
What progress have WCCUSD students made in literacy so far this school year?
While the results of the end-of-year SBAC assessment won’t be publicly available until fall, schools use other measures throughout the year to measure progress along the way.
Recently, WCCUSD released results from the winter i-Ready reading assessment. These mid-year tests help show how students are doing before the end-of-year state tests. While this data gives us a useful snapshot of how things are going, it’s important to note that these results are self-reported by the district and not verified by the state, unlike SBAC scores. Still, this information can help families, educators, and the community understand where students are growing and where more support is needed.
Understanding i-Ready and its Importance
WCCUSD (along with many other districts) utilizes the i-Ready Diagnostic, an adaptive, computer-based test in ELA and math as an interim assessment. Interim assessments are used a few times a year (generally: beginning, middle, and end of year) to provide a bridge between daily classroom assignments and the end-of-year state summative assessments like the SBAC.
One benefit of the i-Ready assessment is that it doesn’t just tell us where students are right now – it shows us how much progress they’ve made. There are two main growth targets:
- Typical Growth is the average yearly progress students across the country tend to make, based on the student’s grade level and fall starting level.
- Stretch Growth is a more ambitious goal designed to measure if students are making enough growth to start closing the gap toward being on grade level.
We would want all students to make at least typical growth – one full year’s worth of growth in one year. Together, these growth measures help paint a fuller picture of how well schools are supporting students to recover from unfinished learning and move toward grade-level reading.
WCCUSD’s Overall Mid-Year Results
WCCUSD’s winter 2025 results shows that students are making gains, but many still need extra support to be on grade level.
- 76% of WCCUSD students started the year one or more years below grade level.
- Just over 1 in 3 students (34.5%) in grades K-8 and 22% of high school students are reading on or above grade level.
- Students scoring “mid” or “above” grade level rose from 11% in the fall to 17% by winter.
- The number of students scoring two or more grade levels behind dropped from 50% to 43%.
Over half of WCCUSD students had made at least half of their typical growth by winter, and about 40% were halfway to their stretch goal.
With 76% of students starting the year below grade level, simply reaching typical growth won’t close the gap. To help all students succeed and reach grade level, we need more students to hit their stretch growth goals.
This mid-year data gives us reasons to be hopeful, but it also reminds us how far we have to go. Reaching grade level will take focused instruction, strong school support, and family partnership every step of the way.
How Does WCCUSD Compare Nationally?
While some growth is happening, WCCUSD continues to lag behind national averages:
- Nationally, about 27% of students are reading mid or above grade level by mid-year. In WCCUSD, it’s 19%.
- 22% of WCCUSD students are still scoring three or more grade levels below, compared to 11% nationally.
School Spotlights
What schools are showing the strongest growth in literacy so far this year? This section highlights WCCUSD elementary, K-8, and middle schools serving low-income student populations (55% or higher) that have shown substantial reading growth. These schools had students who already made a full year’s worth of typical growth by winter testing in January and February 2025.
We share this data to spotlight promising practices and to spark ideas for what’s possible when schools and students get the right support.
Schools Accelerating Growth for All Students
In many schools, a significant number of students made a whole year’s typical growth by the time of the mid-year i-Ready assessment. 10 schools had over 40% of students reaching typical growth, and the top 5 schools (shown in blue) have led the way in supporting all students toward meeting or exceeding their growth targets in reading.
Schools Accelerating Growth for Black or African American Students
In WCCUSD, about 1 in 4 Black or African American students were reading on grade level by the winter assessment. Let’s take a look at which schools are leading the way in supporting these students to build strong reading skills and close learning gaps.
Schools Accelerating Growth for Latino Students
Roughly, 22% of Latino students are reading on grade level, according to the winter i-Ready results. Some schools are showing real momentum in helping Latino students improve their reading. Let’s take a look at which schools are leading the way in this important work.
Schools Accelerating Growth for English Learner Students
Only 9% of English learner (EL) students are currently reading on grade level, but some schools have had significant growth among ELs. These students face a unique challenge: they are learning to read while also learning English. That’s why strong reading growth is especially important, not just to succeed in school, but also to help them qualify for reclassification (check out Forward, Together: A Parent’s Guide to Reclassification for more information). Below are the schools leading the way in their growth.
Congratulations to all of the schools that produced significant growth for their students in reading!
Bright Spots Across Multiple Measures: What We Can Learn From Consistent Growth
When trying to understand whether a school is making real, lasting progress – not just a one-time improvement – it helps to look across multiple measures and moments in time. While a single data point can offer insight, sustained growth across different assessments is often a signal that a school has strong systems, effective instruction, and a school-wide commitment to student growth.
A Case Study in Sustained Improvement: Stewart K-8
One school that jumps out is Stewart, a K-8 school located in Pinole. Stewart has appeared in many of our reports for its strong results in reading and student growth. In our California School Dashboard Guide Stewart was the district school (tied with Nystrom Elementary) with the most growth in ELA, with students growing 20 points more than is typical. In that report they also showed up in our school spotlights for having the lowest chronic absenteeism and strongest ELA and math results for Black and African American students. In last year’s Gaining Ground report, Stewart had the highest percentage of English learners who had made a year’s typical growth by the winter assessment. We also saw In our WCC Kids Can report that Stewart’s ELA SBAC scores increased by 4.3 percentage points from the year before. Additionally, they are 14.8 percentage points above their 2019 levels and their math SBAC scores rose as well, rare feats in a district still recovering academically from the pandemic.
When a school performs well across years and measures, it points to systems and strategies that are working. Stewart shows us what’s possible and reminds us that with the right support, more schools can follow suit.
What’s next?
Later this fall, state SBAC results will show how students are doing in relation to grade-level expectations. But we shouldn’t wait for those final numbers to take action. This mid-year data is a wake-up call and a roadmap – helping schools and families understand what’s working, where support is needed, and how to keep students moving forward.
Individual Advocacy
Families play a powerful role in helping kids succeed in reading. Start by asking for your child’s i-Ready results. Your teacher or principal should be able to print out a score report for you, if they haven’t shared it with you already. When reviewing the results, you can see how they scored in different domains. You may see results such as “approaching grade level,” “at grade level,” “above grade level,” or “needs improvement” (see this guide for more on how to interpret the score report).
When you get the i-Ready results, look at the fall and winter results together, and ask:
- Has my child made progress in reading?
- What are their strengths? Where do they need more help?
- What support is available at school or over the summer?
- What can I do at home to support their reading growth?
If your students’ results are not showing progress over time, reach out to their teacher to walk through these questions. You can also ask for a Student Success Team (SST) meeting to collaborate with the school to ensure a plan is made, or to move toward a comprehensive reading assessment for your child.
Every family has the right to understand where their child stands and to expect a clear plan from the school to help them succeed.
To support your child’s reading growth at home, explore our Literacy Resources Page for downloadable guides and webinars on topics like the science of reading, supporting English learners, navigating dyslexia, and how parents across California are leading literacy advocacy in their own communities. See our blog for more information about ways you can support your students’ literacy growth this summer.
Systemic Advocacy
This year’s results, alongside long-standing trends from the SBAC and California School Dashboard, confirm what families already know: there is progress, but not nearly enough. From 2023 to 2024, WCCUSD saw only a 0.03% improvement in ELA scores on the SBAC. Our students deserve more than small gains, they deserve a system that ensures every child learns to read and has the opportunity to thrive.
Building a strong, evidence-based approach to literacy across the district is no small task, but it is both urgent and necessary. Families and community members can make a big difference by speaking up in School Site Council (SSC) meetings, district-level parent advisory committees, public board comments, and everyday conversations with school and district leaders. Now is the time to call for a clear, districtwide vision for literacy instruction, one rooted in research and evidence-based practices (see the Call to Action from GO’s Community Led Committee on Literacy for some key elements of this).
While the district is facing serious budget constraints, even limited resources must be prioritized to fund strong instructional programs that produce real and equitable outcomes for all students. The district is to be commended for providing detailed data on literacy and math progress on the i-Ready assessment, with enough data points for us to explore each of our key data questions. The data is clear that some progress is being made and much more progress is needed.
As WCCUSD prepares its Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and finishes the search for a new superintendent, this is a crucial moment. Literacy must be a central priority. Because when students learn to read, they unlock every other part of their education and every future opportunity.