If It Sounds Too Good to Be True…

Oklahoma has become Lake Woebegone, “where all the children are above average.” Many parents with kids in grades 3-8 were probably thrilled to see their children make huge jumps in recently released English and math state test scores. Not so fast. I hate to be the bearer of bad news – maybe you’ve already heard, but according to an article in Oklahoma Voice, the Oklahoma State Department of Education changed the cut scores without telling districts or parents about the new scoring method. Merely changing the cut-off where students are deemed “proficient” in English and math can make it appear that students have shown tremendous improvement in just one year. Under the new scoring method, many Oklahoma students have improved a whopping 30% in English in some grades.

Those are incredible results, especially considering that many children have been chronically absent, longtime teachers have been bullied out of the profession by Ryan Walters, emergency certifications are at an all-time high, books are being banned, and Superintendent Walters seems more focused on a national spotlight than on improving Oklahoma public schools.

While changing cut scores isn’t necessarily good or bad, it is imperative that it be done openly so that teachers, administrators and parents know how to interpret and use those scores in teaching children. Because the state Department of Education didn’t disclose the change, it caused confusion about how to read the results.

With new cut scores, current results cannot be compared with last year’s results. Teachers and administrators can only start anew with the new method.

According to the same article in Oklahoma Voice, “51% of Oklahoma third graders have been labeled as proficient or advanced in English language arts…” However, under the previous cut scores, “only 28% of third graders would have been considered proficient or higher…”

In other words, the new scores show no growth from the previous year, and, in fact, this year’s scoring shows a drop from 28% to 26% in the proficiency rate for fifth-grade English.

I encourage you to read the entire article here if you are unfamiliar with how cut scores can affect the results of tests: oklahomavoice.com/2024/08/21/oklahomas-education-department-quietly-made-changes-that-will-cause-big-jumps-in-state-test-scores

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It’s odd that this revision in methodology was made on the down-low. Or maybe it isn’t. Seems to me that it’s right in line with how the State Department of Education is being run these days.

If you have a child taking state tests in math and English, were you informed by the state or by your school district that changes were made to state testing methods? Was it explained to you that you cannot compare current results to last year’s results?