The Scorecard Parents Should Actually Read
A parent’s guide to LCAP, CAASPP, and why Laguna Beach is thriving among California’s highest-performing districts
As a Southern California native, I grew up in La Canada schools, where the expectation was pretty simple: academic excellence above all else. When my husband and I moved to Orange County, we had two priorities in mind: great schools and being close enough to the beach that it’s actually part of your life. Laguna Beach Unified checked both boxes. Now, as a parent of two, I’m grateful for the teachers and staff who show up every day and make that “high standard” feel real.
If you haven’t heard of it, you can track any district through the LCAP, the Local Control and Accountability Plan. It’s the district’s public plan, updated each year, that lays out goals, the actions they say they’ll take, and where the money is going. I pay attention to it because it’s one of the few places where you can see priorities, spending, and results side by side, rather than scattered across a bunch of presentations and talking points.
Many districts reference CAASPP in their LCAPs as a primary progress indicator, which is California’s statewide testing system. Most people know it as the Smarter Balanced tests in English and math (grades 3 through 8 and 11), plus the California Science Test at each school level. These scores aren’t the whole story, but they’re one of the few apples-to-apples comparisons we have year to year across districts.
Laguna Beach Unified is outperforming other large, high-achieving Orange County districts on state tests, and it’s well above both the county and state averages.
2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced results, percent meeting or exceeding the standard
English Language Arts, Orange County comparison
Laguna Beach Unified: 77.53%
Irvine Unified: 74.53%
Capistrano Unified: 71.99%
Newport-Mesa Unified: 61.70%
Orange County average: 59% (reported by OCDE)
California average: 48.81%
Math, Orange County comparison
Laguna Beach Unified: 72.13%
Irvine Unified: 70.50%
Capistrano Unified: 62.67%
Newport-Mesa Unified: 50.34%
Orange County average: 49% (reported by OCDE)
California average: 37.30%
If you zoom out statewide and look at the districts people always bring up when they say “best in California,” Laguna is still right there in the mix. Not always the very top score, but clearly in the same top band, and still far above the statewide averages.
English Language Arts, California district comparison
La Canada Unified: 89.08%
San Marino Unified: 85.71%
Piedmont City Unified: 84.74%
Laguna Beach Unified: 77.53%
Los Alamitos Unified: 75.91%
Poway Unified: 73.68%
Arcadia Unified: 71.97%
California average: 48.81%
Math, California district comparison
San Marino Unified: 84.74%
La Canada Unified: 84.01%
Piedmont City Unified: 82.17%
Laguna Beach Unified: 72.13%
Arcadia Unified: 68.28%
Poway Unified: 66.43%
Los Alamitos Unified: 64.43%
California average: 37.30%
It’s also easy to look at the top of the list and assume “highest score” automatically means “best district.” But comparisons get slippery if you ignore who a district serves. The California School Dashboard shows 5.4% of La Canada Unified students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, compared with 18.5% in Laguna Beach Unified. Those are different student populations, with different needs, and that context helps explain why headline averages can look different even when both districts are doing a lot right.
LBUSD is small enough that a stronger or weaker cohort in a tested grade can shift the overall percentages more than it would in a much larger district. And honestly, I’m glad Laguna focuses on more than test scores. I want my kids to be ready for the real world: emotionally, academically, and socially. A perfect number on a test isn’t the goal.
The LCAP helps keep us focused on trends, on how different student groups are doing, and on what the district says it’s doing to improve, not just on a one-year snapshot. If you’re skimming it, I’d look for clear goals, results broken out by student group, and actions specific enough that you can check next year whether they actually worked.
If we want Laguna Beach Unified to stay strong, we can’t assume it will just happen on autopilot. Our teachers and staff work hard to create the learning environment in which our kids are succeeding. It also requires us, as parents, to pay attention to the school board governance. When decisions come up, I keep coming back to the same three questions: does this match the strategic plan, does it support the LCAP goals, and is it actually good for students?
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