'Deeply troubling': Nation's Report Card shows Oklahoma test scores have steepest decline
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Oklahoma's State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister calls a new national report about steep declines in reading and math scores among fourth and eighth-grade students "deeply troubling," according to a news release.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card, was released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
The national average score declines in mathematics for fourth and eighth graders were the largest ever recorded for the subject, according to theNational Center for Education Statistics.
When comparing Oklahoma's rate to the rest of the country, the state is consistently in the bottom ten.
Data shows fourth-grade reading scores in Oklahoma are down eight points, the fourth worst decline in the nation. Eighth-grade reading is down seven points, the second worst-decline.
For fourth-grade math, Oklahoma saw an eight-point drop, the ninth worst on the list.
Oklahoma's eighth-grade math scores saw the worst decline out of all states/jurisdictions: the nation's average decline is eight points and Oklahoma's is 13.
"Why do you think Oklahoma did worse than other states?" asked NewsChannel 8's Daniela Ibarra.
"It's all relative," responded Oklahoma Education Association President Katherine Bishop. "This is a random sampling of students, they come in and they pluck out, here's a group of fourth graders, here's a group of eighth graders, and how they're doing. And it's when we look at it, we know that our state, our students, we saw disproportionate learning happening with students that were economically disadvantaged, our students of color, we know that with being able to meet everyone's needs, with distance learning didn't happen. But we're back, we're going strong."
Bishop said it's important for parents to remember this report captures a moment in time.
"This is just a national global assessment," she said. "How we're comparing to everybody."
Bryan Koerner, the Deputy Superintendent of Assessments, Accountability, Data Systems & Research for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, said it's important to keep the state's own assessment results, which were released last month, in mind.
"We're encouraged when we specifically look at our state assessments and looking at those data from 2021 to 2022, that we're seeing students already making a recovery that more students are proficient or advanced on our state assessments in 2022," he said.