Though test scores in La Jolla public schools remain well above averages in the San Diego Unified School District, they are less so as students make the transition from elementary to middle and high school.
California public school students in grades 3-6 and 11 take standardized tests in English language arts and math every spring for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP.
The percentages of students in each San Diego Unified school in La Jolla who took the tests and met or exceeded standards in English language arts and math for 2025 are:
• Bird Rock Elementary: English passage rate: 80 (percentage-point change from 2024: +9); math passage rate: 84 (percentage-point change from 2024: +1)
• La Jolla Elementary: English passage rate: 88 (percentage-point change from 2024: +2); math passage rate: 87 (percentage-point change from 2024: 0)
• Torrey Pines Elementary: English passage rate: 84 (percentage-point change from 2024: -1); math passage rate: 80 (percentage-point change from 2024: -5)
• Muirlands Middle: English passage rate: 79 (percentage-point change from 2024: +1); math passage rate: 69 (percentage-point change from 2024: +1)
• La Jolla High: English passage rate: 73 (percentage-point change from 2024: +5); math passage rate: 54 (percentage-point change from 2024: -1)
Overall in SDUSD, students outperformed both the county and state. About 56% of district students met or exceeded the English language arts standard, up by about 2 percentage points, and around 45% met or exceeded the math standard, up by about 1 point.
Countywide, those rates were about 54% and 42%, respectively, and statewide, they were 49% and 37%.
The La Jolla figures show elementary schools far surpassing district, county and state results. But as the educational pipeline moves forward, the difference becomes less pronounced, particularly in high school.
San Diego Unified tends to see a similar trend across high school sites for a variety of reasons, according to Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Nicole DeWitt.
Among them is when the CAASPP tests are administered.
“Depending on the school, CAASPP testing can be earlier in the year prior to AP [Advanced Placement] testing, which means less content is covered prior to testing, or it can be later after AP testing, which can cause testing fatigue for students,” DeWitt said. “Although state-mandated testing is a priority for all our schools, AP testing is also a focus for high schools because it can earn students college credit and is also one of the college and career indicators on the [California School] Dashboard.”
La Jolla High Principal Chuck Podhorsky offered several explanations for higher proficiency percentages in elementary school compared with middle and high school.
The CAASPP testing is administered in high school only in 11th grade, and as a result, students are further removed from the test material as they balance more responsibilities, Podhorsky said.
“As students move into middle [grades 6-8] and high school, their educational pathways diversify significantly,” Podhorsky said. “They begin taking a wider range of classes — honors, AP, dual-enrollment and electives — that focus on college and career readiness. By that stage, the academic demands broaden and standardized tests become only one of many measures of performance.
“The state test, taken only once in 11th grade, does not measure individual growth over time, nor does it account for the depth and rigor of coursework students are actually engaged in.”
La Jolla High School graduating seniors watch as school and district leaders deliver remarks during the 2025 commencement ceremony in May. (Noah Lyons)
Brendan Simon, principal at Muirlands Middle School, theorized that factors including increased rigor and changing class schedules could contribute to lower scores.
Following the release of last year’s English and math scores, Podhorsky told the La Jolla Light that tests don’t paint the whole picture of student success. He echoed that this year, though he added that the school takes pride in maintaining scores that sit well above district averages.
“I still stand by my belief that state testing is just one data point in a much larger picture of student achievement,” Podhorsky said. “While these assessments are valuable, they don’t fully reflect the growth, effort and accomplishments of our students.”
Other measures of success he cited include La Jolla High’s 97.5% graduation rate, graduates attending exceptional universities across the world, and well-rounded student experiences in academics, athletics, arts and community engagement. ♦