{"id":33888,"date":"2021-03-18T05:01:17","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T10:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=33888"},"modified":"2021-06-11T14:04:34","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T19:04:34","slug":"oklahoma-spring-assessments-aim-to-measure-learning-loss-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2021\/03\/18\/oklahoma-spring-assessments-aim-to-measure-learning-loss-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma spring assessments aim to measure learning loss during pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_33891\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33891\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6691-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Calumet Elementary School students read together in spring 2020. Older students and younger students would team up to improve their reading, however programs like this have been scrapped because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lindy Renbarger had to reinvent everything.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The principal of Calumet Elementary is accustomed to doing it all. In her decade at the helm of the school with less than 200 students she\u2019s taken it from a school that scored a \u201cC\u201d on the state report card to regularly getting an \u201cA.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In spring 2020, StateImpact visited Calumet Elementary for a story about that transformation in the lead up to spring assessment tests.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 170px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 10px; overflow:hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 170px;\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/a380f137-7c9b-40eb-8e99-95de474e862c\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Renbarger led a whirlwind tour of a school where reading was an obvious priority. In the hallway at the heart of the school a group of first and sixth graders read books together.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading comprehension is an incredibly important part of child development and the end of year assessments.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That story was killed when the state &#8211; and ultimately the nation &#8211; opted to cancel spring assessment tests because of the coronavirus. But the tests are back on in spring 2021, though with changes.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI do feel good about it, but I don&#8217;t know that we would pull off an A,\u201d Renbarger said.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33896\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33896\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-672x437.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-672x437.png 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-1920x1248.png 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-768x499.png 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-150x98.png 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-620x403.png 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM-1662x1080.png 1662w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-17-at-4.30.07-PM.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Oklahoma State Department of Education<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oklahoma&#8217;s revised spring assessment test window.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>The importance of assessments<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a normal school year, districts are graded off of their students\u2019 performance on end of year assessments in late spring. Federal law mandates states test students for English, math and science in third through eighth grades and one time in high school.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But those grades are something that schools fret over because they have real consequences. And with Oklahoma\u2019s legislature taking action this session to make it easier for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kosu.org\/post\/bill-allowing-easier-student-transfers-passes-oklahoma-senate\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">students to transfer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the grades schools receive are important. Losing enrollment equals a loss in state funding.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grades won\u2019t be given this year after the state board of education voted unanimously to suspend them because of the COVID-19 pandemic in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicradiotulsa.org\/post\/oklahoma-school-report-cards-suspended-2020-2021-school-year#stream\/0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">December<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The test results will be used instead to set a baseline for assessments moving forward.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis will be different from any other year so how the data will be used will be very different,\u201d said Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma\u2019s State Superintendent for Public Instruction.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Districts and state leaders need to have a good understanding of where there are gaps in instruction across Oklahoma, she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hofmeister said teachers and administrators in most districts probably have a good idea of how students are performing.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBut that is different than a state level view,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it&#8217;s important that we are able to see that as a state and that we can look at these particular student groups that really are going to require additional levels of support.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some educators wanted to do away with the tests altogether this year. Last summer, former teacher and Tulsa Democratic State Representative John Waldron penned a letter calling for just that. The reasoning, Waldron wrote, is the tests will give leaders an inaccurate baseline of where students actually are.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt&#8217;ll be like a baseball statistic with an asterisk,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Waldron is generally a critic of the assessment tests and school report cards. A 20-year teacher, he said they have too much of an effect on how schools operate, and the setting of that baseline can\u2019t be from the pandemic year.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen you measure a phenomenon, you change the phenomenon,\u201d Waldron said. \u201cAnd there is this wag the dog effect where the test becomes the driver of good instruction because it provides a clear, measurable outcome.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State education leaders actually agree with that sentiment. But Hofmeister said there needs to be a way to measure success in schools.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tests can\u2019t be the end all, be all of how students and teachers operate over the course of the year, Hofmeister said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead educators need to take a look at the full picture of a student to tell if they\u2019re successful.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHere&#8217;s another tool,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then we use that for that final snapshot to then say, OK, now we can also continue to unlock resources for additional intervention.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-33894\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/03\/IMG_6867-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>What will the tests look like?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma\u2019s testing window is wide open and will include options for districts to test in evenings and on weekends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some assessments, districts will have almost two months to complete them. But some of the nuts and bolts remain unclear, and how tests are administered might vary by district.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The flexibility is welcomed and so is the lack of a grade, Renbarger said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teachers have been giving monthly reading assessments to track progress this year, she said. And those will go much further in predicting the success of students. For those struggling with reading, she\u2019s taken matters into her own hands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><b>\u201c<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I started a reading intervention group myself,\u201d she said. \u201cSo every day I see certain kids and help them out.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students will take 15 minutes out of their physical education time to work on reading in Calumet if they\u2019re behind.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, not being graded by the state is a relief for Calumet teachers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt&#8217;s just a test,\u201d Renbarger said. \u201cLet&#8217;s just look at it that way. Let&#8217;s just take it, and move forward, we know where they&#8217;re at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lindy Renbarger had to reinvent everything.The principal of Calumet Elementary is accustomed to doing it all. In her decade at the helm of the school with less than 200 students she\u2019s taken it from a school that scored a \u201cC\u201d on the state report card to regularly getting an \u201cA.\u201dIn spring 2020, StateImpact visited Calumet [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":33893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33888"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34084,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888\/revisions\/34084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}