Report cards and budget requests were the hot button issues for today’s State Board of Education meeting. The Board released the latest round of A-F Report Cards for Oklahoma’s public schools. This is likely to be the final year the grades are calculated using a formula established during the 2012-2013 school year.
This year’s tally included 196 A’s, 455 B’s, 582 C’s, 319 D’s and 213 F’s. By contrast, in 2015, schools earned 212 A’s, 497 B’s, 536 C’s, 333 D’s and 183 F’s.
A breakdown of how the individual schools performed can be found here.
The State Department of Education is developing a new school accountability calculation since Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Legislature passed House Bill 3218, which eliminated certain types of high stakes tests and ordered new assessment requirements.
“Our sights are fixed on a stronger school accountability system that will be a more meaningful and accurate measure for Oklahoma schools and districts, one that will better provide contextual information that educators, families and communities need to know about our schools, their academic performance, student growth and progress especially for high-need and at-risk student groups,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said.
The 95-member Oklahoma Accountability and Assessments Task Force has been at work developing recommendations. So far, it has recommended math, reading, writing and science assessments for grades 3 through 8. For high school students, the Task Force suggests a college-readiness assessment in the spring of the student’s 11th grade year.
“We are so grateful for the commitment and dedication of all of our task force members. Over the past four months, they have given generously of their time and expertise to ensure that Oklahoma will have a statewide assessment system that positions Oklahoma students for postsecondary success,” she said.
A preliminary report from the Task Force is expected next month. Final recommendations are set to be presented at the December Board of Education meeting. The Legislature will receive the final report no later than February 3, 2017.
The Board also approved the budget request it will send to the Legislature for the next session. The Department of Education will ask for $2.64 billion for common education, a $221 million increase over the current budget. The Education Department said the increase takes into account student population growth in Oklahoma. The request also includes funding to begin the implementation of House Bill 3114 which addresses the state’s teacher shortage.
The Teachers Union will never allow anyone to rank there performance as it relates to student education ranking.. They have their person in as Supt. and the do nothing State Legislature will keep interfering with education to diminish standards to the point that ratings will not matter. Seems anyone connected to education in Oklahoma refuses to accept any overviews or testing of students that highlight the job they are doing. And MONEY is not the answer, Accountability is. In Oklahoma that is the biggest problem we have to advancing education. If you wonder why companies don’t settle here look at our schools.