Performance
At San José Unified, we believe in a rigorous curriculum that inspires all students to discover their own greatness. We never give up — on our students, our staff, or ourselves. We have high expectations, and go above and beyond to ensure everyone is able to meet them.
In this section, you’ll find information on our student achievement and growth, school environment and resources, and academic goals.
TopCalifornia State Dashboard
The California Department of Education recently released their online dashboard, a tool designed to help communities across the state access important information about K-12 districts and schools.
Instead of relying exclusively on test scores, this new system provides a snapshot of how schools and districts perform in a variety of state and local indicators. The dashboard supports California’s groundbreaking Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which gives districts and schools more flexibility in using state resources.
- How does the Dashboard work?
Performance for state indicators is calculated based on the combination of current performance (status) and improvement over time (change), resulting in five color-coded performance levels for each indicator (from highest to lowest): Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red.
- How does San José Unified perform?
Overall, San José Unified performs well above statewide norms measured by the dashboard. We receive a Green (high) rating in 4 of the 5 state indicators on the current dashboard — English language arts, mathematics, graduation rate, and suspension rate — and Yellow (medium) in English learner progress —which is ahead of many comparable districts for this indicator.
While we recognize there is work to do, this first year of reporting validates the investments we’ve made in our students and staff since the launch of the LCFF. Our district has led the way in using data-driven analysis to inform our decision-making, and we’re excited to use these new state reports to guide our next steps in aligning resources to best serve our needs.
- How does my school perform?
You can visit our Schools page to look up the Dashboard for your school. Or you can visit the CDE’s public portal.
We encourage you to connect with your principal for more details about the Dashboard for your school and how the results will be used to address needs and replicate successes.
- Our goal
Our strategic plan sets a goal of all schools and student groups scoring in the two highest performance levels for English language arts, mathematics, English Learner progress, graduation rate, and college and career readiness. We’ll update you annually on our progress.
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)
Each spring, schools across California participate in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress program, also known as CAASPP. This year, your student will participate in the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts and mathematics (SBAC), the California Alternate Assessments (CAA), and, depending on their grade level, the California Science Tests (CAST).
These assessments help school districts and the state monitor student progress under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which support more rigorous instruction and increased expectations for students.
If you have any questions about your student’s participation in CAASPP or would like to request that your student be exempted from one or more CAASPP assessments, please submit a written request to your student’s school specifying which assessments. Please note that you need to submit this request annually. Requests from previous years do not carry over.
Please keep in mind that performance on these assessments is not the only source of information about your student’s progress in school. You should also review classroom work, grades, teacher evaluations, and other test results in order to get a more complete picture.
Feel free to contact your school principal with any questions about requesting an exemption.
As part of the California Code of Regulations that relate to the CAASPP program, school districts are required to notify families of their student’s participation in the CAASPP tests as well as to inform you of your right to exempt your student from taking the CAASPP tests.
- How do we use the results?
The results of these assessments assist teachers, staff, and families in understanding student mastery of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and directly support the district’s focus on delivering high-quality academics to all students.
As a district, San Jose Unified uses these results to improve and refine internally developed assessments, inform the school district’s Key Performance Measures (KPMs) and support cross-divisional work that supports teacher reflection and growth in providing rigorous instruction.
- District partnerships
Conducting assessments requires strong partnerships across San José Unified’s 41 schools sites, with collaboration between site test coordinators, site technology support staff, district network staff, the district’s assessment coordinator, and senior leadership.
This team of more than 100 San José Unified staff ensure that teachers and students are prepared for the online SBAC administration.
Thousands of Macs, Chromebooks, and iPads are used in conjunction with our updated wireless system to ensure that testing is a smooth and successful experience for all students and staff.
- Opting Out
If you have any questions about your student’s participation in CAASPP or would like to request that your student be exempted from one or more CAASPP assessments, please submit a written request to your student’s school specifying which assessments. Please note that you need to submit this request annually. Requests from previous years do not carry over.
Feel free to contact your school principal with any questions about requesting an exemption.
Smarter Balanced Assessments
For the past two years, San José Unified students have joined all students across the state by participating in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s Summative Assessment (SBAC) in English language arts and mathematics. These assessments are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and replaced prior state benchmark assessments.
Each spring, students in grades 3-8 and 11 participate in the SBAC, completing over 67,000 individual tests in mathematics and English language arts.
School Accountability Report Cards (SARC)
Public schools in California are required to provide information to the community in the form of an annual School Accountability Report Card (SARC). SARCs provide data about a school’s student achievement, environment, resources, and demographics. Your principal can answer any questions regarding your school’s SARC. Parents or guardians may request a hard copy of the School Accountability Report Card at each respective school office.
How to access your school’s SARC:
- Go to sarconline.org.
- Enter the school or city name in the search box at the upper right hand side of the page.
- Click on the “View SARC” icon to review the school’s information.
- To translate, select your preferred language in the drop-down menu entitled “Select Language”.
Single Plan for Student Achievement
Each school in San José Unified annually develops a Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). This plan includes the academic goals the school will be working on during the year and shows how the school will be using the funds allocated to the site.
The SPSA is written with the help of the School Site Council, which then approves the final document and forwards it to the Board of Education for their approval.
To review your school’s SPSA check the school website.