Local superintendents believe that report cards for public schools released on Dec. 1 by the Oklahoma State Department of Education aren’t the most accurate snapshots of how schools and students are performing. Partly due to ever-changing calculations.
“The criteria are always a moving target, as referenced by last year’s results, which were admittedly determined to have higher scores shown than in 20222023. The discussion this year has been that scores statewide are lower,” said Stroud Superintendent Joe Van Tuyl. “As those scoring targets are fluid measures of achievement, it is somewhat difficult to evaluate progress and success.”
Van Tuyl said that scores in Academic Growth and Academic Achievement can go up or down from year to year, and that there are many factors outside the classroom that can influence these results, such as differences in each year’s group of students, changes in family circumstances or small shifts in students.
“Sometimes these scores move simply because of normal variation, not because teaching quality has changed. Our teachers continue to do strong work every day, and we’ll keep reviewing the data to understand what students need and how we can best support them,” he said.
The elementary and middle school in Stroud saw slight drops, though retained the same letter grade (C and D) in Academic Achievement, which represents how many students in a school meet or exceed their priority student group target and/or score basic, proficient or advanced on state tests in ELA, math and science. The high school saw a larger drop, going from a C to a D.
Van Tuyl added that the Graduation score isn’t completely accurate, as it includes a juvenile detention center. Students who don’t return to school after leaving the center are counted in Stroud’s graduation rate as a dropout -- rates at the high school when viewed individually are actually steady and “usually near perfect.”
“We are not satisfied with the Grade Card results. A result not identified is that our graduating seniors’ ACT scores once again exceeded the state average ACT score,” Van Tuyl said. “We will always seek to identify areas of higher achievement. There are many measures of an effective education.”
Will Jones, superintendent at Dale Public Schools, said he didn’t fully believe the report card is completely accurate in showing how any school is really doing.
“It's certainly not how we fully measure ourselves; it's one little tool in our toolbox of how we are always trying to improve,” he said. “Because it's not the end-all be-all… we don't feel like it's capable of fully measuring us.”
Jones added that it can help in telling schools a few things that they can improve, but called it a pretty flawed tool.
Dale saw decent scores for the 2024-25 school year, ranking in the top three among the 12 school districts in the Lincoln County News coverage area. While the middle school’s overall grade dropped from a B to a C, the high school jumped from a B to an A, and was the only school in the area to receive an A.
Jones said that they’re proud of what’s happening in Dale and that each school has unique strengths and will work to continue to improve.
“We use the data to help guide our next steps, but the school report card isn't the end-all be-all for us… at the end of the day, our true mission is preparing our kids for college and careers and lives,” he said.
Chandler Superintendent Scott Baade said testing is a difficult method to gauge students’ abilities and growth, though he’s unsure of how schools could accurately measure this. He said some students test well, while others don’t.
“I don't think testing is a real gauge of what success in a classroom is,” he said. “I don’t know what that would be or what it would be like… just to see kids learn and see improvement in areas it’s hard to test for. You almost want to say student growth -- their growth and willingness to learn. Their excitement for education and stuff like that. We can’t put a number on that.”
He added that these report cards don’t show students’ grit and commitment to giving 100 percent and working hard to succeed, even if they fail.
“How do you put a number on that?” he said. “It’s not a good scale. It doesn’t show how much teachers care for their kids.”
Baade said Chandler Public Schools is still working on improving Chronic Absenteeism -- the elementary schools got a C and D in this area, while the middle school and high school received Fs. They are also pouring a lot of federal funds into their lower levels to improve reading, science and math.
“That’s where a lot of this starts… if we can have success in our younger grades, then the hope is that throughout their education career, if they have success there, they'll have success every year,” he said.
Davenport Superintendent Danny Acord said that he hates that there is even a conversation about a report card based on what someone outside of the community feels is important.
“Across the state, each school should be focused on providing what the students in their community need to be successful after high school, and this tool doesn't help us become better in any way,” he said.
He attributed drops and changes in Davenport’s scores to the change in criteria and score cuts for the 2024-25 school year. The elementary/middle school dropped from a B to a C in Academic Achievement, while the high school saw a drop from a C to a D in the same category, as well as a drop in Graduation (A to B). Acord said this isn’t accurate, as they have a 100 percent graduation rate, but are penalized when students graduate early.
Acord said the criteria and methods need to be improved for these scores, especially since they lack measuring true yearly growth.