Tulsa Public Schools has released district- and school-level results of the 2018-2019 Oklahoma State Testing Program (OSTP). The OSTP measures student proficiency in math, science, and English language arts based on the Oklahoma Academic Standards that were launched in 2014 (science) and 2016 (math and English language arts). This is the third year of assessment based on these highly rigorous standards designed to ensure that all young people in Oklahoma are college- and career-ready after they graduate high school. For the second year, district-level trends are similar to state-level trends with a decrease across most grade levels in English language arts proficiency and slightly improved or steady proficiency rates across most grade levels in math and science.

Despite the state-wide trends and the overall decrease across most grades at the district-level, 26 schools showed improvements in English language arts, including Hamilton, Hoover, Lanier, Patrick Henry, and Project Accept TRAICE elementary schools, Tulsa MET Junior High, and Webster Middle School. Proficiency in math improved in half of the district’s schools, including Eliot, Grimes, Mark Twain, Tisdale, and Whitman elementary schools. The district also saw double digit gains in specific areas of proficiency at Disney, Eliot, Marshall, and Robertson elementary schools, Monroe Demonstration Academy, and Zarrow International School. Additionally, English language arts proficiency across 3rd grade increased by three percentage points and 3rd and 5th grade math proficiency increased by two percentage points each.

“While we are pleased to see the district-wide improvement in math, we know that we have a long way to go to prepare our students for success in college, careers, and life,” said Superintendent Deborah A. Gist. “We also know that it will take time for all students to achieve proficiency, which is why we also focus on accelerating student growth using our own set of rigorous measures that teachers can use to assess student learning during the year.”

The district uses additional measures such as the NWEA MAP, PSAT, and SAT assessments, as well as improvements in school climate and culture, to understand how students are growing academically, socially, and emotionally.

“As a district, we are continuing to work urgently to support our teachers and school leaders in moving the needle on student achievement. Our recent district office reorganization included creating a stronger focus on our key instructional priorities and providing dedicated academic services to each network of schools. We are also in our third year of providing both intensive supports for novice teachers and increased opportunities for teacher leaders to build strong professional learning communities within their schools. We are excited to see continued academic growth based on our internal performance measures, and we’re looking forward to sharing more information about our progress during our State of the District presentation in September.”