A scoring issue on statewide testing that caused some concern among parents and school officials because of its demoralizing effect on students was resolved Monday.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education asked new testing vendor Measured Progress to deactivate the program that gave students immediate proficiency level scores. This year, along with their numerical scores, students taking tests on computers were given an immediate classification of “advanced,” “proficient,” “limited knowledge” or “unsatisfactory.”
Department of Education spokesman Phil Bacharach said State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister shared the concern of teachers and parents that young students who received an immediate result showing that their score placed them in a “limited knowledge” or “unsatisfactory” bracket were being demoralized.
The new vendor had included the proficiency score in the immediate result given to students because it was requested by the previous administration when it put out requests for proposals, Bacharach said.
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The vendor was able to re-code the program to show students their proficiency score without compromising the stability of the tests, Bacharach said.
The change applies only to sixth- through eighth-grade students taking their Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests. High school students taking End-of-Instruction exams will continue to see their proficiency classification. Bacharach said the department had not received complaints regarding the test scores for older students.
“With sixth through eighth, you’re dealing with pretty young kids who really probably are going to be demoralized, or in some cases crushed, depending on their scores,” he said.
Educators had expressed concern about the issue, especially for students with disabilities who were required to take the tests.
Jenks Public Schools spokeswoman Bonnie Rogers said the immediate score was also an issue because of confidentiality reasons.
“If students are testing together, they could see each other’s scores,” Rogers said.
“We are appreciative that Superintendent Hofmeister made the call to Measured Progress and had them remove it,” she said.
Educators say they are pleased overall with how smoothly testing is going this year. The state changed testing vendors last year after CTB/McGraw-Hill’s computer server problems shut down on Oklahoma students taking tests in two consecutive years.
Testing will continue through mid-May.
