Normalize Excellence: Neither Mediocrity Nor Decline is Destiny

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results show a grim picture of academic loss. Between January and March 2024, 19,300 12^th graders from 1,500 schools across the country were tested on mathematics. Among them, only 22% achieved math proficiency. During the same period, over 24,300 high school seniors were assessed and a meager 35% could read at the grade level. Of the 114,600 eighth graders assessed for reading, 30% performed at or above NAEP Proficient. Scores among fourth-grade students dovetail with this general trend of declines, compared to pre-pandemic years.  

At the state level, California students fared worse. In eighth grade reading, California students scored below the national average of 257 at 254, which translated into a 28% proficiency rate. Proficiency rates for mathematics and science for 8^th graders in the Golden State stood at 25% and  24%, respectively. There was a 7-point decline in eighth-grade mathematics assessment from the 2019 level of 276 to the current score of 269. Deteriorations in reading scores were slightly smaller, from 259 in 2019 to 254 in 2024. 

Nonetheless, the gloom big picture may gloss over some shining examples of exception. A 2025 CalMatters report highlighted Delano, a small Central Valley city of 50,000 residents, most of whom are Hispanic or Filipino immigrants working in agriculture. The Delano Union Elementary School District, in spite of hosting a student population that is 86.1% eligible for free and reduced-price meals as well as 28.8% English learners, has bucked the trend of decline. 

There, the students meeting or exceeding the state standard in English increased 4.72% from 2023 and those meeting or exceeding the state standard in mathematics grew by 3.42%, based on the 2024 Smarter Balanced test results. Traditionally observed achievement gaps did not plague the school district, where over 64% of Filipino students, over 45% of Hispanic students and 41% of White students tested proficient in English. Delano Union Elementary made onto the national list of 100 “Recovered districts in math and reading” by the Education Recovery Scorecard. In 2024, chronic absenteeism in the school district declined by 5.4%, ranking it among the state’s best at consistent school attendance. 

Also in Delano, the birthplace of the farmworkers’ movement and a civil rights history landmark, César E. Chávez High School stood out as a “2024 National ESEA Distinguished School,” an award by the National Association of ESEA (Elementary And Secondary Education Act) State Program Administrators. The award acknowledges “qualifying federally-funded schools for positive educational advances and the outstanding academic achievement of their students.”  

When interviewed by CalMatters, teachers, administrators and students spelled out recipes for success in an “unlikely” place marked by neither affluence nor prestige. Enriching and engaging extracurricular activities are offered to students. Students’ academic progress is closely tracked by data analysis. 

Most notably, teachers are held accountable for student learning, shaping a culture of high morale, trust and achievement. In the Delano Elementary Union School District, six graders, many of whom are English learners, can learn algebra in upgraded math labs. This is in stark contrast to the new state standard in math, which recommends teaching Algebra I in 9^th grade and structuring learning based on inquiry, cultural responsiveness and equity. 

In Delano schools, an approach to encourage excellence has taken roots and borne fruits against California’s broader environment un-conducive to excellence. The stories of success, in a heroic defiance of all odds stacked against students from immigrant and impoverished backgrounds, also need to be contextualized by the absence of ideological capture. Of nearly 500 school districts surveyed in an “indoctrination” database by the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, both Delano Elementary Union and Delano Joint Union High school districts received good ratings for not having an equity policy, not spending any money on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, not hiring any DEI personnel and not teaching controversial ethnic studies. 

Not all California students are fortunate enough to escape the overshadowing doctrine of racial identity politics and social justice, though. In Los Angeles Unified School District, New West Charter, a top-ranking school in terms of test scores, was found to have spent $221,848 on its diversity, equity and inclusion program in the last school year. Specifically, the program has a mission to dismantle “systems of racial oppression,” provide “diverse” educational materials, and “create an anti-racist school.” DEI-themed curricular resources permeate in all disciplines. While English, History and Foreign Languages embrace teaching materials on critical race theory and gender ideology, the school’s Physical Education and Science also have DEI and social justice baked in. Sadly, the school has seen deteriorations in academic performance in recent years, with a 4.61% decrease in English proficiency rate from 2023 to 2024. 

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that an average California public-school student can’t do math, read, or learn science at the grade level. Confronted with evidence of abject failures, the education establishment should not gaslight or capitulate. Instead, they need to take responsibility, study the best practices, and help our kids learn. At the least, policy makers and education leaders must muster the will to discard what is clearly not working: the incessant drumbeats of illiberal dogmas and the accompanying assaults on merit.