The 2026 edition of the California School Dashboard, published by the California Department of Education, is now live. In the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD), 77.7% of the class of 2026 reached the Prepared level on the College/Career Indicator, compared with 75.8% for the previous class and 55.2% statewide; the district’s graduation rate was 95.5%, compared with 88.1% statewide.
Who Is Affected by the 2026 California School Dashboard
The Dashboard uses five colors (red, orange, yellow, green, and blue) to show performance on each indicator in the state accountability system, with blue as the highest. It covers every district and public school in California; families can look up their own school by name and see how each student group is colored. The main 2026 indicators for the Irvine Unified School District and the state are:
| Indicator | Irvine Unified School District | California |
|---|---|---|
| College/Career (percent Prepared) | 77.7%, blue | 55.2%, green |
| Graduation rate | 95.5%, blue | 88.1%, yellow |
| English language arts (average distance from proficient) | 59.7 points above, blue | 7.5 points below, orange |
| Mathematics (average distance from proficient) | 56.1 points above, blue | 38.9 points below, yellow |
| Science | 70.1 points, blue | 54.2 points, yellow |
| Chronic absenteeism | 8.6%, yellow | 16.1%, yellow |
| Suspension rate | 0.9%, blue | 2.7%, yellow |
The share of Irvine Unified graduates rated Prepared rose from 71.5% for the class of 2019 to 77.7% for the class of 2026; Approaching Prepared fell from 11% to 6%, and Not Prepared was 16.2%. The indicator covers 2,933 graduates.
The English and mathematics rows are not proficiency rates; they show how far, on average, student scores are from the lowest score for Level 3 (Proficient). The proficiency rates released on October 15 are in IUSD 2025-26 State Test Results Released.
What to Do Now About the 2026 California School Dashboard
Look up the school, not only the district. District figures combine all schools, and results at individual high schools can differ; enter the school name on the Dashboard home page to find them.
Check the student group distribution. A blue district rating does not mean every group meets the standard; in English language arts, one Irvine Unified student group is red and three are orange.
Connect the indicators to course planning. The College/Career Indicator measures how prepared graduates are for life after high school, which relates to each student’s high school course plan. Courses and pathways at Irvine’s five high schools are covered in the EDUBUS Irvine high school guide, and college application planning in the college admissions planning service.
Sources
- California School Dashboard: Irvine Unified District Performance Overview (2026) (accessed October 16, 2026)
- California School Dashboard: Irvine Unified Academic Performance (2026) (accessed October 16, 2026)
- California School Dashboard: State of California Performance Overview (2026) (accessed October 16, 2026)
- California School Dashboard: Home (accessed October 16, 2026)
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