A mixed bag of gains and setbacks for Oklahoma students as assessment reports for 2015-2016 are now complete. Improvement was seen in reading scores of most grade levels, math scores remained steady overall, with gains in science and a drop in social studies scores.
State Superintendent of Public Schools Joy Hofmeister said the improved reading scores are an encouraging sign.
“Literacy is the key that unlocks the door to success in both school and life. Stronger student performance scores on third-grade and fifth-grade reading tests are promising, and we must continue to build on that success,” said Hofmeister. “The slight dip in fourth grade signals the need to boost efforts to help children who need it most.”
She notes Oklahoma policy makers have been working on improvement in science and math to prepare students for the workforce.
“The workplace is increasingly reliant on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills, and it is our responsibility to prepare our schoolchildren for these fields. Math is a universal language. Our students must be fluent and able to think in that language to be truly competitive and ready for future academic studies and STEM career opportunities. We must remember as a state that academic math and reading standards have changed repeatedly in recent years. It is now time for stability in classrooms and the resources needed to focus on learning for the long run. These scores indicate a positive step forward, but much more remains to be done,” Hofmeister said.
The State Department of Education is overseeing a transition period for public schools as they move from older standards and an emphasis on testing to new standards and testing dictated by the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the state House Bill 3218 which eliminated several layers of testing. New assessments are also being put into place.
Complete results for all 2015-2016 student assessments are available on the Department of Education’s website found here.
