It’s that time again: the results of Oregon’s state tests in English, math, and science are out. And for the first time since the pandemic, things are looking up.
Each spring, Oregon tests students in three subjects from elementary to high school. Students in grades 3-8 and 11 take math and English language arts assessments, while students in grades 5, 8 and 11 also take science tests.
These results, from tests administered this past spring, show improvements in all three subjects, though scores remain below pre-pandemic levels. Based on test performance, students are rated on proficiency from levels one to four, with levels three and four considered proficient.
“Although we’re not satisfied with these outcomes, the takeaway is clear: recovery is happening and it will take time,” said ODE director Charlene Williams.
Williams pointed out that Oregon’s school year is one of the shortest in the country, and that the state wants to continue its focus on increasing early literacy and creating opportunities to learn outside of the school day. She says the state needs to keep building on what it's already doing.
“It’s not about doing anything new,” WIlliams said. “Our data show us that when we lean into those practices that work, those students perform at and above grade level.”
Tests are required by the federal government, but Oregon has a state law allowing families to opt-out of testing.
Here are four takeaways from this year’s test results.
After years of declines, leaders see positive results
DeLee Brown is the principal at Liberty Elementary School in the Salem-Keizer school district. At a press conference Tuesday, Brown shared the story of a current fourth grader who, last year, was two grade levels behind in reading.
“We saw this particular little gal just make almost two years worth of growth last year and come in right at grade level at the end of last year, but that was through small groups, and through watching and monitoring her progress,” Brown said.
“Her parents were on board … they helped at home, we had a small tutoring session for a couple weeks at school in the spring for her that she attended.”
The percentage of students “proficient” in English language arts in Salem-Keizer is up for third graders, from 24.2% to 25.3%, a bright spot for staff after years of declines.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but our staff are now moving, our kids’ outcomes are now moving in the right trajectory,” said Olga Cobb, the district’s deputy superintendent for elementary schools. “That really confirms for us that we’re doing the right work.”
Statewide, the percent of Oregon students “proficient” in English Language Arts is up 0.2 percentage points, with a 1% increase in third grade.
The percentage of students achieving Level 3 or 4 in Math and Science are also up 0.2% from last year. According to the latest results, 31.5% of students are proficient in math, and 30% of students are proficient in science.
Jeff Bullock at the Klamath County School District credited their improved assessment scores to a renewed focus on pushing kids academically.
“We've got to get them engaged in content and skill building," he said. "So that's been a focus of our message as a district, and what's going on in our classrooms.”
State assessments are far from the only source of information educators and schools use to determine student achievement. Grades, attendance rates, and other more frequent assessments offer more real-time data.
This year, Oregon made a data change that allowed students who scored proficient on the state’s extended assessment, which are alternative tests for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Officials recalculated past data to include those students, but the changes are small, usually no more than a 0.5% change.
Of school districts with participation rates of 80% or higher, the Oregon Department of Education reports that 75 of 163 districts showed improvement in English Language Arts, while 74 of 159 districts improved in math.
80% is Oregon’s standard for participation, but that number falls far short of the federal participation requirement: 95%. Only 61 of Oregon’s 197 school districts had enough students taking the state tests to meet that level.
Participation is still below federal requirements – especially in high school
Participation rates are up slightly in Oregon. 89% of students participated in English tests, with 88% participating in math.
However, 11th grade participation in state tests remains lower than other grades, a consistent pattern since the COVID-19 pandemic. Oregon officials say students who score “proficient” are on track for success in college and career. But without an adequate percentage of high school students taking the test, the state tests don’t provide a very complete picture of college and career readiness looks like in Oregon.
Officials in the Eugene school district say “a culture has developed” where students do not take tests. Participation rates there range from as low as 20% up to 93%.
“[Eugene] 4J has the lowest participation rate of Oregon’s ten largest districts, and the fourth-lowest of any district with more than 500 students,” shared district director of communication Kelly McIver in an email.
“This results in lower reported proficiency rates and limits the accuracy of data, while also putting the district’s standing with state accountability requirements at risk.”
McIver said Eugene’s Superintendent, Miriam Mickelson, plans to work with staff on the approach to testing.
In the Baker School District, where participation rates range from 26% to 71%, district officials have made more of an effort to include information about the importance of testing when sharing opt-out forms.
“Participation matters,” WIlliams said. “Wherever there are pockets of anti-assessment sentiment, or opt-out practices, it hinders our ability to use these tools in a way that really helps understand, support, and serve students equitably.”
These assessments are not the only tool school districts are using to measure student performance, though.
“It's one measure of how we help assess kids and whether they're on track or not,” said Todd Bloomquist at the Medford School District. “So we look at things like chronic absenteeism, we look at rates of completion, of credits. We look at their engagement. Are they involved in something, some kind of activity, and then how's life at home? That's a big factor of how kids are going to do in school.”
Middle schoolers are making gains
Statewide, scores improved for Oregon middle schoolers in English, math and science.
In math, the percentage of 8th graders proficient jumped 2.1 percentage points, to 28.9%.
In Salem-Keizer, district administrator Ingrid Ceballos credits new instructional materials in math and English language arts for improvements at Waldo Middle School, where she served as principal until this year.
“As building leaders, we were tasked with supporting the use of grade level materials and ensuring there was rigorous instruction in the classrooms,” Ceballos said.
Waldo saw double-digit improvements for 6th graders in English, plus an 8.7 percentage point increase for 8th graders. The school’s math test scores also improved.
Portland Public Schools officials saw increases in both English and math for elementary and middle school students. The percent of students proficient in 8th grade math improved by almost five percentage points.
“The improvements we are seeing align directly to our Board goals,” shared PPS Senior chief of academics Kristina Howard. “Our continued focus on grade-level, standards-aligned, culturally affirming, deeply engaging, and data-driven instruction in both Literacy and Math remains at the center of our work.”
Not all school districts are seeing improvements for middle schools. Trisha Evans, director of secondary education at Grants Pass School District said they’ve struggled to see gains in 6th, 7th and 8th grade, especially in math.
“We've had a reduction in funding and an increase in student need for intervention,” Evans said. “But when you have to reduce staffing, it makes it difficult to find time to intervene.”
At the state level, ODE’s assistant superintendent of Research, Assessment, Data, Accountability, and Reporting Dan Farley said Oregon is “trending toward recovery.”
“There are some signs that we really are becoming healthier as an education system,” Farley said.
National scores tell a similar story
Oregon schools on these state assessments were not improving before the pandemic shut down schools in 2020. Neither were scores nationally.
In September, scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed declines for students in math, English, and science.
“The drop in overall scores coincides with significant declines in achievement among our lowest-performing students, continuing a downward trend that began even before the COVID-19 pandemic,” National Center for Education Statistics Acting Commissioner Matthew Soldner said in a press release sharing the data.
While the federal government requires every state to test all students in grades 3-8 and in high school, the results of those exams aren’t easily comparable across state lines. The NAEP test, administered to a sample of students every year, is intended to be comparable. Their results come from tests taken in early 2024 by 8th and 12th graders.
In the future, there may be fewer national assessments to draw from due to cuts at the Education Department.
Both Oregon and Washington use the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium tests for its federally-required state exams in English and math. Oregon’s most recent scores are lower than those in Washington. According to Washington’s latest assessment data, 52.6% of students there are proficient in English language arts, and 41.7% of students are proficient in math. Officials there say the rate of progress year to year has “returned to what it was pre-pandemic.”
Oregon officials said they prefer to look at national datasets rather than make state to state comparisons.
“It gives us confidence that the trends we are seeing are aligned with what’s happening in our classrooms,” Williams said.
