California is improving in English and math, but its students have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Public schools in California registered limited improvements in their 2026 academic evaluations for English and mathematics. Despite the upward trend, student performance across the state remains below pre-pandemic levels.

The recent academic progress has been characterized as insufficient to fully close the learning gaps created by the pandemic disruption. Educational authorities and analysts continue to monitor these metrics as schools work toward recovering historical proficiency standards.