Dr. Sosa, speaking for Riverside Unified’s central office, presented the district’s 2024–25 California School Dashboard results at the board’s Nov. 20 study session, highlighting districtwide improvements and the district’s instructional response.

The district reported about 37,000 students enrolled and said five of seven Dashboard indicators exceeded the district’s growth goals this year. In English/language arts, the district recorded a 6.4 distance-from-standard (DFS) increase, above a 4-point target; mathematics rose 4.5 points, also exceeding the district goal. Dr. Sosa described the new science indicator as showing “first-time growth,” citing a science baseline near 51.7 points and performance roughly in line with county and state averages.

“Cuando los mantenemos en la escuela, pueden recibir la instrucción poderosa que ocurre en nuestros salones de clase,” Dr. Sosa said, linking attendance and in-class instruction as the district’s central theory of action. He told the board the Dashboard is intended to show growth and that the district is using a multi-tier system of supports (MTSS), early universal screening, and targeted interventions to accelerate student progress.

The presentation included subgroup data. Dr. Sosa said the district’s English-learner (EL) reclassification work is showing progress: the percentage of students at the top EL level rose about 2 percentage points and the district’s reclassification effectiveness was roughly 90%. The graduation-rate indicator moved into the top color on the Dashboard with a reported rate of 95.6 percent; the college- and career-readiness measure increased to about 52.6 percent.

Attendance and discipline remained areas of focus. Dr. Sosa reported chronic absenteeism at about 18 percent districtwide — a decline from pandemic-era highs but still an issue — and noted a roughly 17-point difference in test scores between chronically absent students and peers. The suspension rate remained near 4 percent; the district did not meet its reduction target for suspensions this year.

Board members pressed staff on how temporary funding for instructional coaches and tutors will be sustained and asked for additional disaggregation comparing pre‑COVID baselines to current results. Staff said the current expansion of math and literacy coaches is funded in part with temporary dollars but that some coaches will be transitioned into ongoing MTSS-linked roles; the board asked for monitoring plans and the results of pilot implementations (including early data from a mathematics pilot referenced as Eureka).

Dr. Sosa and school leaders described school-level practices used to support growth — vertical alignment of standards, ongoing professional learning for teachers, universal screening three times per year, and targeted small-group interventions — and said the district will continue to monitor pilot sites and triangulate implementation differences to guide districtwide scale-up. The study session ended with the board asking staff to provide clearer pre‑/post‑COVID comparisons and routine updates on pilot results.

The district presentation and subsequent Q&A are expected to inform the board’s instructional priorities and budget discussions for the coming year.