California officials are happy with this stat: 87.5% of students graduated from high school in 2024–25, a record under the state’s current system. But wait–that number is a mirage–put that number next to California’s academic results and the celebration becomes harder to understand. Only 48.8% of students tested met or exceeded the state standard in English-language arts, while just 37% did so in mathematics. For those that graduated from California high schools, both those numbers are less than half the students
How can graduation rates keep rising when academic proficiency remains so poor? One answer is that a graduation rate is, to a significant degree, a constructed statistic. California determines the courses and credits necessary for a diploma, districts determine whether students successfully complete them, and government rules determine which students are included in the graduation cohort. Change requirements, grading practices, credit-recovery opportunities or cohort rules and the graduation rate can change without students necessarily becoming better readers or mathematicians.
Standardized proficiency results are harder to explain away. They aren’t perfect, and graduation and proficiency statistics measure different populations and different things. But when California administers the same statewide assessment and fewer than half of tested students meet its English standard and barely more than a third meet its math standard, that is an uncomfortable measure of academic performance. A diploma, by contrast, does not require a student to demonstrate proficiency on CAASPP.
That raises the question Californians should be asking whenever another “record” graduation rate is announced: Are our schools actually educating students better, or are we getting better at graduating them? Graduation rates make administrators, politicians and school systems look successful. Reading and math results tell a much tougher story. California parents and taxpayers deserve to see both numbers side by side.
