The charts below reveal crucial outcome data about student well-being, academic performance, and attendance across various ethnic groups. These findings underscore our responsibility to provide every student with the necessary support and opportunities to succeed.

By examining these disparities with an equity lens, we aim to foster discussions and actions that promote a more just educational environment. Let this information motivate us to enhance our efforts in ensuring that all students in Santa Cruz County Schools receive the education they deserve.

State Assessments: Language Arts

On the English Language Arts test of the State Assessment (CAASPP), Santa Cruz County’s results show a clear and persistent achievement gap by student group. Asian and White students consistently have the highest percentages meeting or exceeding standards, while Hispanic/Latino students are consistently the lowest, and Black/African American and American Indian/Alaska Native students remain well below the county’s highest-performing groups. Across the full trendline, the gap remains substantial: higher-performing groups stay relatively stable in the mid-60s to around 80%, while other groups remain clustered far lower—often in the 20s to 40s—demonstrating that overall performance is not improving evenly and outcomes continue to vary sharply by student demographics.

State Assessments: Mathematics

On the Mathematics test of the State Assessment (CAASPP), our results show a persistent and substantial achievement gap by student group. Asian students consistently post the highest percentages meeting or exceeding standards (around the low 70s), followed by White students (generally in the low-to-mid 50s), while Hispanic/Latino students are consistently the lowest (mostly in the mid-to-high teens). Black/African American and American Indian/Alaska Native students remain well below the top-performing groups and, while there are year-to-year fluctuations, they generally sit far beneath Asian and White student outcomes. Overall, the math data shows that higher-performing groups remain relatively stable, while other groups continue to lag significantly—reinforcing a long-standing, demographic achievement gap that has not closed over time.

Engagement: Chronic Absenteism

Chronic absenteeism rose dramatically during and immediately after the pandemic, with every student group jumping sharply from 2020–21 to 2021–22 and remaining elevated into 2022–23. The highest rates were consistently among Hispanic/Latino students (peaking at 34% in 2021–22) and American Indian/Alaska Native students (peaking at 33% in 2022–23), followed by African American students (peaking at 29% in 2022–23). Encouragingly, rates declined for all groups in 2023–24 and continued to improve in 2024–25, but they have not returned to pre-surge levels for most groups—especially for American Indian/Alaska Native (28%) and Hispanic/Latino (21%) students—while White students declined to 14% and Asian students remained lowest at 6%.

 

CHKS Survey: Feeling Sad or Hopeless

This chart provides a visual breakdown of the responses to a key mental health indicator from the California Healthy Kids Survey, focusing on the frequency of feelings of sadness or hopelessness among students from various ethnic backgrounds over several years.Across all racial/ethnic groups, reports of chronic sadness/hopelessness generally peaked in 2021 and then declined by 2025. In 2021, “Yes” rates were highest across the board—about 43% for American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and White, 45% for Hispanic, 47% for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 48% for Black/African American. By 2025, rates dropped substantially for most groups: Black/African American (18%) was lowest, Asian (23%) and NH/PI (23%) were similar, White (24%) and Hispanic (27%) remained somewhat higher, and American Indian/Alaska Native (30%) was highest. Overall, the data show broad improvement after 2021, though differences between groups persist in 2025.

CHKS Survey: Consider Suicide

This chart details responses from the California Healthy Kids Survey concerning students' considerations of suicide over several years, segmented by ethnicity. The data underscores a troubling but important issue: a consistent minority of students across all groups reported having seriously considered attempting suicide. Across race/ethnicity, the percentage of students who seriously considered attempting suicide is generally higher in 2019–2023 and drops in 2025 for every group. Several groups peak earlier: Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander reaches the highest level in 2021 (25%) before falling to 7% in 2025; Black/African American peaks in 2021 (23%) and declines to 9% in 2025; American Indian/Alaska Native peaks in 2023 (22%) and drops to 12% in 2025. Asian students decline from 18–19% (2019–2023) to 8% (2025), while White decreases from 15–17% down to 12%. Hispanic is comparatively lower and steadier overall (13% → 13% → 11% → 9%).