Oregon Test Results Give Insights.

Oregon Public Broadcasting (9/18, Manning) lists four lessons from the Oregon Smarter Balanced test results. First, the waiver granted by the ED earlier this year makes the stakes lower for Oregon schools. Second, the new exam presents the same familiar achievement gap with 52.4% of white students scoring proficient on the third grade reading test while only 27.6% of black students and 26.9% of Hispanic students scoring proficient. Third, Oregon’s students math scores declined from elementary school to high school. While 45.6% of students passed the third grade math test, only 30.5% of high school students passed their math test. Fourth, participation rates are falling as more students choose to opt-out.