State education officials are delaying publicly sharing how local schools performed on standardized tests last year, saying they need more time to make graphics “to support effective use and interpretation” of the data. Students take such tests in the spring. School districts receive a draft of their data from the state over the summer and work with the state to make sure it’s accurate. The education department then publicly releases scores, and that typically has been around Sept. 21 or 22. But Dan Farley, the Oregon Department of Education’s assistant superintendent, wrote in a Monday email to superintendents and other school district leaders that the public data would be delayed. He did not give a timeframe for its release. “We are endeavoring to provide education and community partners with accessible data visualizations, including those with longitudinal data to demonstrate trends across time,” he wrote. Educators, parents and others use the state numbers as a measure of how local schools are doing. They provide a way to compare schools across Oregon. The fall numbers are as anticipated as the January release of graduation rates. The numbers from the Oregon Department of Education indicate how many students tested were “proficient” in reading and math and show trends both by each school and by each district. Proficient in reading means they can readily read, analyze text, write and cite evidence at their grade level. Scores are reported for students in third, fourth, fifth, eighth and eleventh grade. “Student learning is our core business. State assessment results matter: they are the measure of our progress and success,” Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said in a statement responding to Salem Reporter’s questions about the delay. Marc Siegel, education department spokesman, said the department works with school districts over the summer to review data for accuracy and “unusual patterns, inconsistencies, and outliers in all relevant data collections that may be cause for concern.” He said agency officials decided to delay release to take an “opportunity” to make the data more understandable through graphics. “Knowing that we could do better, we pursued that option. We’re confident that the data will be easier for all to understand and that transparency will be increased,” Siegel said in an email. The data in past years has painted a poor picture of student learning locally and across the state in the wake of the pandemic. Tests in 2022 showed a significant decline in the share of Salem-Keizer School District students who could read and analyze text or do math at their grade level. In 2023, those numbers dropped again for Salem schools, with just 34% of students who took the test deemed proficient. Castañeda, who was beginning her first year in the district, said schools needed to act with “urgency” to improve the numbers. Salem Reporter on Tuesday requested the Salem-Keizer School District’s assessment data from both the state agency and district. The state department said it would review responsive records and by Friday first provide a cost for releasing the information.District officials said they were working on Salem Reporter’s request. Last fall, the Salem-Keizer School Board adopted targets over the next five years for key metrics, including third-grade reading proficiency. The board will use those metrics to judge Castañeda’s performance. The targets say spring data should show 34% of third graders reading at grade level in English by the spring of 2028, up from last year’s 26%. Hitting that target requires small but consistent improvements each year. Gov. Tina Kotek has made improving literacy a key goal of her administration and spoke when campaigning for office about a need for greater accountability in the state’s education system. Her office on Tuesday didn’t respond to questions from Salem Reporter about whether the governor was aware of the delay or plans to address the issue. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Education department delays public release of student test scores appeared first on Salem Reporter.