Results from the Oklahoma State Testing

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TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Public Schools has released results from the Oklahoma State Testing Program’s first administration of the new assessment based on the Oklahoma Academic Standards.

“It’s an important step forward for our state to set academic standards that allow us to understand how Oklahoma students are performing compared to higher academic expectations,” said Tulsa Superintendent Deborah A. Gist. “However, even as standards and assessments have changed in Oklahoma over the past several years, we have kept a focus on college-and-career-readiness and maintained a high bar for academic growth and overall performance.”

The state’s new standards are designed to be aligned with national benchmarks for college- and career-readiness and are more challenging and place greater emphasis on higher-level thinking than in the past. This a brand new assessment, so the 2017 results will set a baseline for academic performance and can be used for future year comparisons.

District results showed the following:

• Approximately 23% of students scored at or above proficient in English language arts while 19% of students met this bar on the math assessment.
• Many of the students falling short of the bar for proficiency scored at a level of limited knowledge, indicating that they are nearing proficiency (34% – ELA | 29% – math).

Gist said: “The most important thing for Tulsa parents and families to know is that these state results are not an indication of our students’ capabilities. Every child at Tulsa Public Schools has extraordinary potential, and we are confident that they will not only rise to the challenge of stronger state standards but will also continue to make academic gains based on the measures that matter most in our district.”

Tulsa Public Schools will continue to use NWEA MAP results, SAT results, and the initial version of the district’s new school performance framework to measure student achievement, inform decision – making, and set goals. The district is also tracking progress in other areas such as school climate and culture, graduation rates, suspension reduction, and student attendance.