OK Education Department Releases 2015-16 Student Assessment Results

The grades are in for student assessments for the past school year.

The Oklahoma Department of Education reports moderate gains in key areas. The number of third-graders scoring at least proficient on the reading test increased from 69 to 72 percent. However, fourth grade reading scores decreased from 70 to 68 percent.

Overall, the department reports that the percentage of third-grade students who met the criteria for the Reading Sufficiency Act (RSA), which plays a role in determining if a third-grader needs intensive reading remediation before advancing to fourth grade, has shown a steady increase from 83 percent in 2014 and 85 percent in 2015 to 88 percent in 2016.

Fifth-grade students, who were the first third-grade group to study under RSA, saw an increase of 9 percent of students at or above the proficient mark.

“Literacy is the key that unlocks the door to success in both school and life. Stronger student performance scores on third-grade and fifth-grade reading tests are promising, and we must continue to build on that success,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister. “The slight dip in fourth grade signals the need to boost efforts to help children who need it most.”

When it comes to math, third graders had the biggest improvement with 66 percent passing compared to 62 percent last year.

See the complete results for all 2015-2016 students assessments here.