EDUCATION OVERSIGHT BOARD RELEASES STATE REPORT - REPORT ACKNOWLEDGES SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT BUT REVEALS PERFORMANCE VARIES GREATLY BY REGION AND ETHNIC GROUP, PLUS HIGH STUDENT LOSS RATES FOR SOME GROUPS IN HIGH SCHOOL By Office of Accountability May 16, 2002   OKLAHOMA CITY - In a release today of the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program's "Profiles 2001 State Report", the Education Oversight Board was optimistic, but also cited several areas of concern for the state's public education system. "Our reports cover many indicators, some of those indicators show signs of improvement while others do not. We all understand that educational reform is a "long haul" endeavor," said Pete Churchwell, Chairman of the Education Oversight Board. "There were many schools that were not able to reach the Education Oversight Board's "70% Performance Benchmark," said Churchwell. "Most disappointing was that 53 schools that tested in the 5th grade and 6 schools that tested in the 8th grade were unable to get 70% of their students to score "Satisfactory or Above" on any of the subject areas tested." High school students began a new End-of-Instruction testing program in school year 2000-2001. Students were tested in English II and U.S. History and, statewide, 70% of students were able to score "Satisfactory or Above" on the English test with 65% being able to score "Satisfactory or Above" on the U.S. History exam. At the site level, however, results were less favorable. Of the 436 high schools across the state, only 98 (22%) had 70% or more of their students scoring "Satisfactory or Above" on both of the End-of-Instruction exams. "The "Profiles 2001 State Report" is not without its bright spots," said Rep. Larry Roberts, board member and Chair of the House Common Education Committee. In the results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP, Oklahoma is on par with the nation for the percentage of students performing at "Proficient and Above" and we have far fewer students than the nation scoring "Below Basic." Oklahoma educators have effectively moved students from the "Below Basic" category into the "Basic" category. When we look at the percentage of students that are performing at "Basic and Above" we are ahead of the nation. "Other favorable news includes the state drop-out rate and graduation rate." explained Sen. Penny Williams, board member and Chair of the Senate Education Committee. "The drop-out rate decreased from 5.0% in school year 1999-2000 to 4.7% in 2000-2001. At the same time, the state's graduation rate has also increased from 74.3% in 1999-2000 to 75.2% in school year 2000-2001. Both of these indicators are heading in the right direction." "New to this year's report is a series of maps that show performance on the Core Curriculum Tests by county," explains Robert Buswell, Executive Director for the Office of Accountability. "We found that student performance varies significantly by region for 5th grade and 8th grade math, reading, and science, and for high school students on the end-of-instruction English II and U.S. History tests. Generally speaking, results from the Southeast portion of the state lag behind those from other areas." In addition to the regional variation in the scores for the core curriculum tests, the report also reveals variations in the scores by ethnic group. The Profiles 2001 State Report includes graphs that show performance by ethnic group and subject area. While margins between the groups vary, performance by African American, Native American, and Hispanic students falls short of the state average in every subject area tested. "There are also some programmatic concerns that present themselves in this year's report," comments Secretary of Education, Dr. Floyd Coppedge. "At the state level, scores on the Core Curriculum Test were down in 5th grade Math, Writing, and Geography as well as 8th grade Writing and Arts. Complicating matters is that by changing testing companies as we have, we are unsure if this represents lesser performance by students, an increase in test rigor, or some other factor," Coppedge observes. Oklahoma's testing program has been fraught with change and it has some real credibility problems as a result. Teachers and administrators feel they don't know what is expected of them. It's time we find someone to stabilize the program, and then stay the course," Coppedge said. "Several other comparisons in this year's "Profiles 2001 State Report" have board members concerned," said Pete Churchwell. "When we look at students by graduating class we discover high levels of loss for certain ethnic groups. For example, the graduating class of 2001 lost 46% of its black males and 36% of its black females over the four-years of high school and the ACT scores of the black students that remained in school were considerably below the other ethnic groups. We understand that this information is sensitive but this is cause for great concern." Churchwell goes on to explain, "In looking at the ACT results we are faced with a two-fold challenge; until we can get our Caucasian and Asian students performing at the same levels as their national counterparts and have African American, Native American, Mexican American, and Hispanic students performing at the higher levels of other ethnic groups, we have not met the challenge." The Office of Accountability's disaggregated reporting is very similar to what the U.S. Department of Education will be requiring at the national level under "No Child Left Behind," Dr. Coppedge added. "State averages, and even district averages, can hide some serious instructional problems. It isn't until you look at student performance at the site, group, and individual levels that you can determine if students are really being well served," Coppedge said. The Office of Accountability produces annual reports at three levels, providing nearly 100 statistics regarding the curriculum, programs, budget, student performance, and community characteristics of Oklahoma's public schools and school districts. The "Profiles 2001 State Report" provides a chart-filled overview of education within the state and offers many national comparisons. The "Profiles 2001 District Report" compiles data to the district level. The "School Report Cards" have information specific to each public school site, including more about the Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests and 70% Performance Benchmark. These reports are placed in public, college, and military base libraries across Oklahoma and are also available on-line at www.SchoolReportCard.org. The school report cards are printed and mailed to principals each spring in order that they may distribute copies to parents and patrons by the end of the school year. Legislation from the 1999 session made it a requirement for administrators to distribute the information to all parents with students enrolled in their school. For more information about the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program or "Profiles 2001," contact the Office of Accountability at (405) 522-4578 or visit www.SchoolReportCard.org.