By Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon students are still struggling to regain ground in their grasp of key subjects three years after returning to normal school routines following the COVID pandemic.
The latest results from statewide assessment tests in English language arts, math and science show that across subjects, grades and districts, students are still about 10 percentage points behind pre-pandemic achievement levels. In the state’s 10 largest districts – responsible for educating about 40% of Oregon’s 552,000 students – students have slipped further behind in English language arts and science.
“This isn’t normal. This is not where we want to be by any stretch of the imagination,” said Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education, at a news conference Wednesday.
Williams and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in response to the data that the state would double down on investments in early literacy, summer and afterschool programs and improve data collection and accountability measures to better understand what is driving the declines.
A few bright spots
Since the 2022-23 school year, there have been some marginal improvements in fifth-, seventh- and eighth-grade math achievement. Education department officials said teachers in the districts where students improved reported having more time to collaborate with one another, the ability to connect math lessons to other school subjects such as science and social studies, and had success focusing on conceptual rather than just rote, or systematic, learning.
And some demographic groups within individual schools saw big gains from the previous year.
Hispanic and Latino kids at Sunset Elementary School in Hermiston had an average 27 percentage point gain in English language arts, and Hispanic and Latino 11th graders at Roseburg High School had an average 31 percentage point increase in English language arts proficiency. Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering eighth graders who identify as Asian had a nearly 41 percentage point increase in math proficiency from last year.
Oregon’s results reflect a nationwide trend showing student learning was negatively affected by the pandemic, which included more than a year of online classes. But Oregon is not rebounding like neighboring Washington, California and many other states, according to an analysis by researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities.
“While this reality is not unique to our state, Oregon is still struggling to catch up with its peers nationally,” said Andrea Lockard, director of assessment and student reporting for the state education department.
In a news release, Kotek said she was “not satisfied by this year’s numbers.” Kotek championed in 2023 a $120 million investment in early literacy to start moving the needle on student reading proficiency. Schools received the money in March and have begun investing in teacher training, reading coaches and curricula that aligns with the state’s approved materials list.
Even with a record $10.2 billion in school funding passed by the Legislature last year, the state’s 197 districts are struggling financially, superintendents say. Many of the state’s largest districts have been forced to cut hundreds of teaching positions, and superintendents in four of Oregon’s 10 largest school districts earlier this year called on legislators to boost funding for public education, calling public school funding in the state a “crisis.”
Required tests but parents can opt out
An average of 88% of eligible students participated in the annual assessment tests, called Smarter Balanced tests, during the spring of 2024. The assessments are given in the spring to grades three through eight and 11th grade students.
The tests are required by state and federal law, though Oregon allows parents to opt their children out of testing, according to the state education department. Prior to the pandemic, participation in the tests was closer to 95%. Students were not required to take the tests in 2020 and the state education department scaled back testing in 2021.
On average across the seven grades tested in spring of 2024, student proficiency in English language arts declined by half a percentage point, increased by about half a percentage point in math and decreased about two-thirds of a percentage point in science compared with the 2023 results. Average proficiency in all subjects among Oregon students remains, on average, about 10 percentage points below 2019 proficiency levels.
Results show student proficiency in Oregon’s 10 largest districts have, since the pandemic, declined 12.5 percentage points on average in English language arts, 10 percentage points in math and 12 percentage points in science.
In some districts, the declines are greater. In the Salem-Keizer School District – the second largest district in the state – English language arts proficiency across all grades is down nearly 16 percentage points from pre-pandemic levels and about 13 percentage points in math and science.
“Salem-Keizer isn’t offering excuses. We are offering accountability and have already taken decisive steps to improve our student outcomes,” Andrea Castañeda, the district’s superintendent, said in a news release. “We’re improving our ability to track student progress throughout the year. We are prioritizing and investing in programs that work like dual language, career and technical education and early literacy.”
Low participation
Results among the state’s 11th graders paint a grim picture of students’ grasp of core subjects as they near the end of their K-12 education. But participation in the tests among 11th graders remains so low that Oregon education officials encourage the public not to read into the data.
About 30% of Oregon 11th graders opted out of testing in 2024, leaving the state with little information about how well these soon-to-be graduates understand key concepts in English, math and science.
Farley, director of assessment, said the agency is hearing that many high schoolers are prioritizing college entrance exams such as the ACT and SAT and choosing not to take state assessments, despite the state’s efforts to ensure the testing schedule does not disrupt other testing schedules.
Data from the 70% of 11th graders who participated shows many teens are struggling with English language arts skills.
In the 10 largest districts, the data suggests only about 40% of students on average are proficient in reading. Math and science proficiency is even lower, at about 20% and 30% of students in those districts.
Williams and Dan Farley, assistant superintendent of research, assessment, data, accountability and reporting, emphasized the importance of growing the number of 11th graders who participate in the tests so state officials know how to meet student needs.
“Assessment is magic. It brings internal cognitive functions into the light, where educators can respond to them,” Farley said at the news conference.
But Williams and Farley also talked at length about the limits of testing. The state launched a new student survey for all testing grades this year that gauges students’ access to resources, learning opportunities and content, along with their sense of belonging. State officials hope that by combining testing results and survey results, they can begin to understand what types of investments and interventions would be most effective in each subject, grade, school and district.
This story first appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
