OKLAHOMA CITY — In a major departure from decades of state and federal policy, Oklahoma’s top education official said Friday his administration doesn’t plan to administer statewide reading and math tests this school year.
Instead, state Superintendent Ryan Walters suggested Oklahoma should collect data from benchmark assessments that individual school districts select and purchase from private vendors. Oklahoma would be the first in the nation to replace its statewide exams with a patchwork of district-chosen tests.
The plan requires permission from the U.S. Department of Education, and Walters said he expects a “very, very quick” approval from the Trump administration. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is accepting public comment until Sept. 8 on the idea before submitting its final request to the federal government.
“I was elected to make changes, serious changes,” Walters told Oklahoma Voice. “I have done all that I can to bring the changes into place that the voters demanded. And so, that’s where you’ve seen an overhaul of an education system that was failing our kids.”
If the Trump administration agrees to the plan, Oklahoma could “open the floodgates” for other states to do the same, said Dale Chu, a school policy expert and senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a national education think tank.
State leaders in Texas, for example, also are considering replacing their state testing system.
Federal law requires every state to test their public school students in reading and math from grades 3-8 and once more in high school. These tests are intended to hold schools accountable to providing a quality, equitable education to every student, and they inform families of their children’s academic results.
Oklahoma law similarly mandates that the state Board of Education adopts a statewide system of assessments that complies with federal regulations.
Walters, though, said he doesn’t intend to bring his idea to the state Board of Education for a vote. He said making this change falls within the Education Department’s authority to choose testing vendors and assessment schedules.
“We don’t need a vote from the state board,” Walters said. “We’ve already done everything we need to, so we’re moving forward.”
For several years, Oklahoma’s state tests have found a majority of students performing below their grade level. This was the case last year even after the state lowered the standard for students to meet grade-level targets in reading and math. Test scores are expected to have another downturn this year after state officials again raised expectations for student performance.
Walters said he’s not trying to avoid accountability for state test results. Eliminating these tests could remove a barrier that parents and teachers want out of the way, he said, and benchmark assessments could provide more helpful and timely data instead.
Many Oklahoma districts already use benchmark assessments in addition to the annual state tests. Students take benchmark assessments multiple times a year for more up-to-date information on their academic progress, and their scores are comparable to the millions of children in other states whose schools administer the same exams.
There is a trade-off, though, Chu said. These benchmark assessments aren’t deliberately aligned with the Oklahoma Academic Standards, which dictate what topics local public schools must teach to students in each subject area.
“This is why I always say all the time there’s no single assessment that can do everything,” Chu said.
Each state develops its own set of academic standards to dictate what its public schools must teach to students. Their statewide assessments then test students’ knowledge of those standards.
They also ensure the test scores of every public school and district in Oklahoma are directly comparable.
Chu said he’s not yet seen a statewide assessment system where each individual district, rather than the state, decides which test to take.
“To ensure consistency and comparability and move (the decision) to the district level, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I haven’t seen a reliable and valid method to do what I’m talking about,” Chu said.
The benchmark system is possible, but implementing it is more complicated than one end-of-year test, said Maria D’Brot, who formerly oversaw state testing and school accountability at Oklahoma’s Education Department.
Using multiple testing vendors could undermine comparability between districts, she said. Fairness issues could emerge if students don’t have equal access to testing formats, or if students with disabilities don’t get the same accommodations or accessibility tools.
“The success of Oklahoma’s transition will depend on embedding strong psychometric infrastructure, disciplined operations, and fairness safeguards from the outset,” D’Brot said. “Without these, the accountability system risks losing its credibility, jeopardizing federal and state compliance, and failing to deliver fair and actionable information to students, families, and educators.”
Walters said his administration already has the proper infrastructure in place to make the change this year. He said the Education Department will make sure scores from different benchmark tests are evenly compared.
His proposal has faced skepticism from both sides of the political aisle.
“While we can all agree that the status quo isn’t working, tossing out the tests without thinking through next steps can be short sighted,” said Nellie Tayloe Sanders, education secretary for Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Sanders leads the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability, a small state board that shares authority over state testing with the Education Department. She said she looks forward to working with the Education Department to “find a path forward to ensure our kids have the skills they need for their futures.”
State lawmakers indicated they want input, too.
“We look forward to continued collaboration with Superintendent Walters and school districts so that any proposed changes to student testing align with state law and provides clear, actionable information on student college and career readiness,” said Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, who leads the House Education Oversight Committee.
Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said legislative Democrats are open to moving on from state testing, but the timing of Walters’ announcement is “reckless.”
Many districts are only days away from the first day of school, and some already have welcomed students back to class.
“Absolutely we should have a conversation about what testing is appropriate and when, and we’ve been bringing up that conversation up for years,” Kirt said. “But him doing it this way, I don’t think complies with state law, and it makes us all have to do a bunch of scrambling to figure out what’s happening.”
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Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.