LAUSD reports gains as most students fall short of state standards

California Department of Education data show that fewer than half of Los Angeles Unified School District students met or exceeded state standards in English language arts or math on the 2025-26 Smarter Balanced tests. The New York Post reported that 48.3% reached the English benchmark and 39.7% reached the math benchmark.

EdSource’s headline similarly says most California students did not meet standards in math, English or science, but does not give district-specific figures in its headline. The New York Post reported that LAUSD’s results increased from the previous year: English scores rose by roughly 2 percentage points, while math scores climbed by 3 points.

The figures describe the share meeting or exceeding the state standards, rather than the size of the score increase for individual students. LAUSD officials highlighted the gains at a district event attended by school-system officials. The New York Post reported that no parents or students attended.

The article characterized the improvements as modest and noted that the majority of LA students still did not meet the reading and math standards. The reported figures show the same divide: results improved year over year, while fewer than half of students reached either benchmark. Superintendent Andrés E.

Chait said the results encouraged the district to continue raising expectations and supporting schools. His statement, as quoted by the New York Post, connected the reported gains to the district’s ongoing work with schools; the article did not provide further detail about particular programs or measures.

The figures cited in the article come from California Department of Education data. The New York Post reported them as results for LAUSD students on the 2025-26 Smarter Balanced tests, with the previous year serving as the comparison.

The account does not give results broken down by grade, school, or student group, so the overall percentages are the specific performance measures reported here. The central finding is a mixed one: the district’s results moved upward from the prior year, but most students remained below the state standards in both English language arts and math.

The district’s stated course is to continue raising expectations and supporting schools, while the reported test results indicate that fewer than half of students met or exceeded either benchmark.