Oklahoma Board Of Education Delays Release Of Controversial A-F School Grades

The State Department of Education has postponed the release of A-F Report Cards, and will reschedule initially scheduled for today. The State Board of Education tabled a vote on the acceptance of the report cards until the October 25 full board meeting.

The state it is just a temporary postponement allowing the board to look over the formula and see if changes need to be made.

Local superintendents say they are pleased with the delay but don't think two weeks is long enough to get the formula correct.

The state anticipate releasing grades October 25.

Superintendents from Norman, Oklahoma City and Edmond issued a statement.

“I am pleased that the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OKSDE)
Board voted unanimously to delay the release of the A-F report cards for
schools across the state. When more than 300 Oklahoma school
superintendents voiced their concerns
last week regarding how growth is calculated for our students, we hoped
education leaders and the community would hear our trepidation and give
the process a second look. I appreciate that the OKSDE Board listened
and will now have an opportunity to develop
a fair, encouraging and transparent method of accountability.”  –Karl
Springer, OKCPS Superintendent

 

I support the decision by the State Board of Education to postpone
the release of the A-F report cards. The
postponement highlights the importance of reassessing the calculation
for student growth. Districts need a challenging but reasonable standard
for measuring the academic growth of their various populations and I'm
hopeful that this delay will allow for changes to be made to
the state's current formula. -Dr. Goin Edmond Public Schools

"We are grateful the State Board of Education has chosen to take the
time to study the method the State Department of Education is using to
calculate grades for schools. The approximate 300 school districts that
were hopeful of this action would like the Board to investigate our
concerns, which are:

• It does not accurately calculate student growth. That is,
  students who score Proficient on the 3rd grade test and then score at
  the same level of Proficiency on the 4th grade test are not considered
  to have grown by the SDE.
• It does not treat all students’ achievement the same but rather
  weights the scores of at-risk subgroups and minimizes the impact of
  students scoring at Proficient and Advanced.
• It is not a traditional A-F scale familiar to parents, e.g. 90-100 is not an A in the SDE’s formula.

It is important that the new school accountability system that we
all embrace better evaluates and reflects the quality of instruction in
our schools as it was intended to by the Legislature."

Dr. Joe Siano, Superintendent, Norman Public Schools     Oklahoma Board Of Education Delays Release Of Controversial A-F School Grades

Posted: Monday, October 8 2012, 09:39 PM CDT