OKLAHOMA CITY – Reps. Mark McBride, R-Moore, and Dick Lowe, R-Amber, today commented on a change to the method for scoring state academic tests they say was not communicated to statewide educators, parents or the public.

McBride and Lowe, who serve as chair and vice chair of the House Appropriations & Budget Subcommittee on Education, said the change made it look as if student proficiency rates during the last school year have jumped when they cannot accurately be compared to the prior year.

"The Oklahoma State Department of Education dropped the ball on telling school administrators, parents or anyone about the change in the way they would determine student performance on state tests," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. "This left districts shocked and surprised when they saw this year's scores, and it puts a false narrative out there. While we want to recognize the heroic efforts of our state educators, and we don't in any way want to diminish the incredible work they do in educating their students, the truth must be told."

Oklahoma subject matter academic standards are updated every six years on a rotating schedule. Over 100 educators and other subject matter experts gather under the direction of the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) to accomplish the task, and the standards are ultimately approved by the Legislature.

Once standards are updated in a particular subject, such as English language arts or math, testing companies rewrite state tests to match the new standards. OSDE then works with testing vendors to develop new cut scores and performance level descriptors (PLDs) to determine if a student is performing below basic, at basic, or is proficient or advanced.

Because the tests, cut scores and PLDs change every six years per subject, the current year's test in that subject cannot accurately be compared to the prior year. This has been an ongoing concern with the state's A-F School Report Card, the lawmakers said.

Normally, standards are only changed in one subject matter per year, but because of a delay due to the COVID pandemic, English language arts and math were updated on the same schedule. New tests were developed and administered for the 2023-2024 school year, and new cut scores and PLDs were determined. When schools received their results of last year's state tests, the number of students showing proficient or above in English language arts and math was inflated over the previous year, which McBride and Lowe said caused confusion.

They said they are seeking guidance to explain how to interpret the test scores that they hope to share with school administrators statewide, which can then be shared with parents and other education stakeholders.

"Had OSDE done its job and communicated this process clearly before these scores were released, we would not have this misunderstanding," McBride said. "I can only hope they do better in the future."