Joel Jones and Amy Plante
53 minutes ago
School classroom (Nexstar, file)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – For the next five years, Oregon high school students will not have to take a required skills assessment to prove they have mastered math, reading, writing.
This comes after the Oregon State Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to extend the moratorium established by former Gov. Kate Brown in 2020, suspending proficiency requirements for graduation. is. The suspension would last through the 2027-2028 school year.
The controversial decision was first reported by The Oregonian on Thursday and has been met with much backlash. Some say it would lower state standards and make Oregon’s diplomas cheaper, but other education experts say the policy doesn’t work and disproportionately harms students of color. .
Dan Farley, deputy director of the Oregon Department of Education’s Office of Research, Evaluation, Data, Accountability and Reporting, said the moratorium removes the harm caused by the policy.
“What we discovered was that it simply wasn’t working,” Farley said. “We looked at some outcomes after secondary outcomes, and there was no change in those data before or after implementation of this policy. Therefore, it does not have the intended effect. did.”
An Oregon Department of Education report submitted to the Senate Education Committee last year found that “assessments of essential skills requirements were conducted unfairly and did not ensure the expected benefits for students in preparing for the post-secondary transition.” It turned out that it was not.
“This report highlighted several impacts on students, primarily students of color, students with IEPS, and students who are English language learners. “They were excluded from learning opportunities at the level to pass the test,” Farley said.
But the moratorium continues to face pushback from local residents who say the decision could reduce the state’s educational standards.
Former gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan launched a campaign that garnered more than 1,400 public comments in opposition.
“It is unfortunate that unelected officials have decided to ignore public comment and continue down a path that ignores their responsibility to help students meet high standards,” Drazan said.
Whitney Grubbs, executive director of Foundations for a Better Oregon, said in a written statement to KOIN 6 that these state requirements have been removed and new requirements are needed to replace them.
“When state leaders remove or suspend existing graduation requirements without proposing more effective and equitable alternatives, states lower expectations in order to artificially mask disparities and improve outcomes.” This impression, sadly, risks misleading Oregonians into believing that certain student groups are inherently incapable of meeting high expectations based on their identity, zip code, disability, or situation. It reinforces a highly biased narrative. Nothing can be further from the truth.”
Still, state education leaders like Farley say that despite the decision, most of Oregon’s graduation requirements remain in place and remain as difficult as other states. .
“Our state assessments are still in progress. Families and guardians of students taking 11th grade assessments will receive the same information they have previously received from their schools,” Farley said. I did. “All we have eliminated are certain inappropriate uses of assessments that did not serve the purpose for which they were designed.”
A complete copy of the SB 744 report can be read below.
