Test scores in this Fresno area school district keep rising. ‘That’s who we are’
Standardized test scores in one Fresno area school district have made a triumphant comeback from the pandemic slump that sank results across the state’s public schools.
According to assessment data released this month by the California Department of Education, Sanger Unified’s language arts scores improved by more than four percentage points year over year.
This brings the total percentage of students meeting or exceeding language arts standards up to 53%, which is above the statewide average and mirrors the district’s 2019 results.
Sanger Unified saw similar gains in science, improving by more than four percentage points compared to last year. Before the pandemic, about 25.5% of the district’s students met or exceeded California standards, which fell about five percentage points below the statewide average.
Now, more than 36% of Sanger Unified students are proficient in science, well over the state average of about 32%.
While the district’s math scores are still about 2.5 percentage points behind pre-pandemic results, they remain above the statewide average.
Superintendent Dennis Wiechmann said the school district’s standardized test score gains have been years in the making.
The state education department placed Sanger Unified on a “program improvement” plan in the early 2000s for chronic underperformance on state assessments. In turn, Wiechmann said the district adopted an approach centered around professional learning communities, encouraging teachers to collaborate.
“From 2005 to 2014, we exited program improvement status, we had the second-highest growth in the state of California behind Long Beach, and we were one of the few districts that was closing the achievement gap,” Wiechmann said.
The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress was implemented during the 2014–15 school year, and data shows that Sanger Unified was seeing steady growth up until the pandemic, when school campuses closed for more than a year in most parts of the state.
Sanger Unified school leaders said the district’s pre-existing approach helped its test scores bounce back.
“What you see this year, and actually when you look at when we began testing after COVID, you saw that steady growth,” said Weichmann, who joined the district in 2023. “You’re seeing that whole system of working together. That’s who we are, and it’s great to see that outcome. Because our teachers, counselors, and classified staff are representing the giants we stand on who made Sanger Unified great before.”
Tim Lopez, associate superintendent of educational services, said the Sanger district began exploring how to better provide targeted support services for students — be it social-emotional, academic, or behavior-focused.
“I wouldn’t say there was any real ‘secret sauce’ to (Sanger’s improved test scores). It was more so those little steady improvements, but with a focus and specificity to target the needs of the kids,” Lopez said.
He also credited the district’s prioritization of individual student growth as opposed to proficiency.
“Proficiency is a certain bar that kids reach, but our expectation is that every child is going to grow. Some are going to be close to that bar and beat it, others might be far below — but we’re going to still expect a growth,” Lopez said. “I think that it’s changed the very nature in which we look at students. It’s not only the ones that are close to proficiency that we’re going to focus on. It’s all kids.
“We’re all at different levels, and that’s just fine. But our goal is every child is going to get better.”
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
