Oregon released its graduation numbers Thursday, citing the state’s second-highest grad rate on record.
This comes after a 2021 bill suspended Essential Skills requirements for graduation, leaving some parents to wonder whether graduates would be prepared for higher education and the workplace.
PAST COVERAGE | Gov. Brown signs bill suspending Oregon graduation testing requirements
Senator Michael Denbrow (D-Portland) sponsored Senate Bill 744, which did away with the standard test requirement put in place in 2008.
When asked whether he believes the lack of standardized testing could have inflated graduation rates, Dembrow said he does not believe that to be the case.
"I think what we are seeing in the increase in graduation rates is just a continuation of a trend that was happening before COVID," he said. "As we can expect COVID had an impact and now we are kind of back to normal."
Sen. Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City), who is on the Senate Education Committee disagrees, believes testing standards are a way to hold school districts and the state's Education Department accountable for how they are spending taxpayer dollars.
“We all want accountability on our dollars. How are they spent, what are the outcomes, and measuring our own youth,” he said. "You know, I am putting money into the big pot, how is it being used? Is it being used effectively?"
Anderson said he would vote to bring the standardized testing back, if given an opportunity to do so this session.
Dembrow said he doesn't believe test scores are a good way to measure competency, and would support a different type of assessment taking its place.
“There have to be more meaningful ways. Whether it's having students do a project, or real-world kinds of experiences to show what they can really do, as opposed to just a test score,” said Sen. Dembrow.
The ODE refused to do an on-camera interview following the release of the scores on Thursday. When KATU’s Christina Giardinelli asked the department how taxpayers could assess the value of their investment in education without standard tests, the department responded with:
The statewide summative assessment provides this check on student progress in science, math, and language arts.
When asked the same question Dembrow said accountability in terms of student readiness should be measured through employer feedback.
“I will say that it is questionable as to the value of those test scores what we need to be hearing from employers [is] are the kids that are coming to them ready? And we are not actually hearing concerns (about standard tests),” the senator said. "What we need to be hearing from employers is 'Are the kids that are coming to them ready?' and we are not actually hearing concerns around that what we are hearing is that they want kids to have more real-world experience."
Dembrow said he is working with the State's Board of Education to come up with a new standard that will replace the Essential Skills Test and will take those "real world experiences" into consideration.
"I'm actually meeting with them next week and I expect that the result of that will be that it will be on their schedule, if we need to take legislative action we will," he said.