State Board of Education approves new A-F report cards

OKLAHOMA CITY – At its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, the State Board of Education (SBE) today voted unanimously to approve the final recommendations of the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) for a new system of assessment and accountability scheduled to take effect in the 2017-2018 school year.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister commended the board’s approval of the school report card system that emerged from the months-long work of a 95-member Assessment and Accountability Task Force.

“This proposed accountability system is a more reliable, valid and meaningful measure of student and school performance, one that includes a wealth of information that removes a bias against high-poverty districts while placing an emphasis on individual student academic growth,” she said. “Informed by a diverse task force of education stakeholders, this plan represents a more robust, contextualized approach to school accountability. We are grateful for the efforts of task force members, whose countless hours of collaboration resulted in a system we can all take pride in. I am confident that the new school report card will serve the needs of families, communities, schools, educators and above all, the schoolchildren of Oklahoma.”

The new school report card meets federal and state mandates established by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind, and House Bill 3218, which Gov. Mary Fallin signed into state law earlier this year. House Bill 3218 mandated that a new system of state assessment and accountability be presented to the SBE for approval before Jan. 1, 2017.

The new calculation gives equal weight to student performance in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics as well as student growth in these subjects. Other indicators include English language proficiency assessment (ELPA) progress, graduation rate, postsecondary opportunities and chronic absenteeism, which is defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year.

Elementary and middle school report card scores will be factored with a 90-point rubric as follows:

• ELA performance – 15 pts.
• Math performance – 15 pts.
• Science performance – 5 pts.
• ELA growth – 15 pts.
• Math growth – 15 pts.
• English language proficiency assessment (ELPA) progress – 15 pts.
• Chronic absenteeism – 10 pts.

While high school grading is similar to that of elementary and middle schools, greater emphasis is placed on college and career readiness. Measuring growth is problematic in the short term given that OSDE is recommending an off-the-shelf college-readiness exam for 11th grade, but the OSDE’s final report details how a growth indicator could be added within several years.

The point structure for high schools is:

• ELA performance – 15 pts.
• Math performance – 15 pts.
• Science performance – 15 pts.
• ELPA progress – 15 pts.
• Graduation rate – 10 pts.
• Chronic absenteeism – 10 pts.
• Postsecondary opportunity – 10 pts.

In addition, a high school can receive an additional point for high participation and proficiency in U.S. History. To see the full assessment and accountability recommendations, click here. To download comparison charts between the current and new school report card systems, click here.