New California test results show math and reading gains among Latino students, including strong improvements in Compton and LAUSD. But progress varies across school districts, and most Latino students still fall short of the state’s math benchmark.
Latino students across Los Angeles County are making progress in math and reading, but the latest California test results reveal a striking difference between improvement and achievement.
In 2026, just 32.5% of tested Latino students met or exceeded the state’s mathematics standards, up from 30.4% a year earlier. Reading results also improved, with 44.5% meeting or exceeding English language arts standards.
A Parriva analysis of state assessment data found that Latino students made gains in major districts such as Compton and Los Angeles Unified. But other districts recorded declines, even as the county’s overall scores increased.
For families, the findings raise an important question: Are schools helping more students reach academic expectations, or are improvements still leaving large gaps?
Latino students are making gains, but results differ by district
Los Angeles County outperformed California overall in both tested subjects. About 51.5% of county students met or exceeded English language arts standards, compared with 49.3% statewide. In mathematics, the figures were 41.3% and 38.4%, respectively.
According to the Los Angeles County Office of Education, countywide English results improved by approximately one percentage point, while mathematics increased by two points.
Latino students improved by 2.1 percentage points in mathematics, slightly more than the countywide increase.
But the differences among districts are substantial.
In Compton Unified, Latino mathematics proficiency rose from 42% in 2025 to 47.6% in 2026, a gain of 5.6 percentage points. English language arts proficiency also increased, reaching 54.8%.
Los Angeles Unified recorded a three-point increase in Latino mathematics proficiency, reaching 33.7%. English proficiency rose to 43%.
Those results extend Parriva’s earlier coverage of LAUSD’s academic gains by placing the district’s performance alongside other Los Angeles County school systems.
The scale of the improvement matters. More than 140,000 Latino students in LAUSD received mathematics scores in 2026, compared with approximately 7,000 in Compton.
Elsewhere, Downey Unified’s Latino mathematics proficiency reached 43.7%, up three points. Pomona Unified improved to 22.3%, while Palmdale Elementary reached 21.6%.
These districts are moving forward, but they are starting from very different achievement levels.
Some districts lost ground
Not every district shared in the countywide improvement.
In Montebello Unified, Latino mathematics proficiency declined from 24.6% to 23.9%. Hacienda La Puente Unified also recorded a small decrease, reaching 27.6%.
Long Beach Unified showed mixed results. Latino mathematics proficiency increased from 31.6% to 32.8%, while English language arts proficiency declined slightly to 44.3%.
The differences matter, but they require context. Districts serve different grade levels and student populations. Enrollment changes and other factors can influence annual results.
The tests also compare different groups of students each year. They do not establish how much individual children improved or whether particular teaching strategies caused the changes.
The findings add a local perspective to Parriva’s reporting on uneven academic recovery after the pandemic, which examined persistent differences in student achievement across communities.
Achievement gaps are narrowing, but remain large
Countywide progress has not eliminated longstanding differences in academic performance.
In mathematics, 32.5% of Latino students met or exceeded state standards, compared with 41.3% of all county students and approximately 59.2% of White students.
The difference between Latino and White students narrowed by approximately 1.3 percentage points from 2025, but remained 26.6 points in 2026.
The English language arts gap also narrowed, yet remained close to 23 percentage points.
These results reinforce questions examined in Parriva’s reporting on California’s efforts to close Latino achievement gaps.
English learners also face substantial academic challenges. Approximately 11.7% met or exceeded English language arts standards, while 15.2% reached the mathematics benchmark. English learner status and Latino ethnicity are overlapping, not interchangeable, student classifications.
Test scores cannot capture every aspect of learning or a student’s potential. But they provide one measure of whether schools are helping students meet statewide academic expectations.
How families can check their school’s results
Families can review school and district performance through California’s official CAASPP results website.
Search for your child’s school or district, select mathematics or English language arts, and examine available results by student group and year.
The California School Dashboard provides additional information about school performance, including academic indicators and other accountability measures. Dashboard indicators should not be confused with the proficiency percentages used in this analysis.
Parents can also ask school administrators what tutoring, academic interventions or other support is available for students who are not meeting standards.
For families of English learners, California is preparing changes to language-proficiency reclassification rules. Parriva’s guide to recent education changes explains what parents should know about those separate requirements.
What the results mean for LA County families
The latest results show that Latino students are making measurable academic progress. They also show how far many schools still have to go.
Compton’s gains, LAUSD’s improvements and the mixed results elsewhere offer different pictures of student achievement within the same county.
The next question for school districts is not simply whether scores improved. It is how they will help more students reach the state’s standards and demonstrate that progress over time.
For families, countywide averages are only a starting point. What matters most is whether their own schools are improving and providing the support students need to succeed.
