Proficiency rates for Oregon students are slowly improving on state standardized tests, according to new data released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education.

Statewide, results from last school year show that slightly more students tested proficient on the three main tests, taken by students in grades 3-8 and high school. The latest results show a 1.4 percentage point increase in math proficiency, a 0.8 percentage point increase in English Language Arts, and a 0.6 percentage point increase in science, compared to the year before.

In a press conference with reporters, ODE director Charlene Williams called the results “encouraging”.

“While this year’s results may not feel transformational on their own, sustained improvement year after year can fundamentally change outcomes and the trajectory for our scholars,” Williams said.

Oregon students made incremental progress in both math and English according to standardized test results. But the results are nowhere near the targets the state expects to reach during the 2029-2030 school year. Under a new accountability system, that’s the year when school districts are supposed to meet performance growth targets set by the state. At the same time, Oregon’s policy allowing students to opt out of these tests raises questions about whether these results are an accurate assessment of student learning.

Still, ODE officials said about half of Oregon’s school districts with strong participation saw “growth” in ELA. Slightly more than half saw “growth” in math.

That includes the Salem-Keizer School District, where student achievement increased across almost all grades in both English and math. Oregon’s second-largest district outpaced the state’s growth in both subjects.

“If you see a Salem-Keizer student or a staff member this week, give them a high five,” Superintendent Andrea Castañeda told reporters on a call this week.

In third grade reading, 29.7% of Salem-Keizer students were rated proficient, up from 25.3% the year before. Across all grades, 34.5% of students tested proficient, which means students are demonstrating they have grade-level knowledge or higher.

In math, about a quarter of Salem-Keizer students were proficient in math.

“We’re investing in training, we’re investing in coaching, and we’re investing in data systems that help our schools understand performance and get better,” Castañeda said.

But Castañeda acknowledges the numbers are still too low.

In Salem-Keizer and statewide, passing rates remain below pre-pandemic levels. Castañeda said in addition to these year-over-year results, she sees hope in tracking the gains of individual cohorts of students. But she says students and families have been changed by the pandemic in lasting ways.

“COVID was an inflection point for our entire society,” she said. “It wasn’t a window that opened and closed. It was a change in the fundamental architecture of our community.”

What are these tests for?

Oregon’s state standardized tests measure math, science, and English Language Arts achievement for students in grades 3 through 8, as well as 11th grade, as a measure of “how well our education systems are supporting student learning,” according to state officials.

“These results represent encouraging early signs that the state’s literacy initiatives are moving achievement in the right direction,” said Angelica Cruz, ODE’s director of literacy.

In the Grants Pass School District, the percentage of students rated proficient in English and math rose compared with the previous year but dipped slightly in science. Yet, the district’s proficiency rates remained above the state average in all three subjects, at 50.9%, 36.1% and 36.5%, respectively.

Susan Zottola, the district’s director of elementary education, said the results reflect years of work. About five years ago, the district began training staff in the science of reading. It’s also in its third year of using a new reading and writing curriculum in elementary school.

“That’s been a multi-year process,” she said. “It’s seeing the fruits of that investment and labor being realized now in the test results.”

Zottola said improving reading and writing may have helped students on the math test, too.

“It’s not just a math test. There’s a misconception about that,” she said. “There is a lot of reading involved in it, and there is writing involved in it. So when you increase those skills, you’re going to see a benefit also on the math test.”

Oregon’s results in third grade English Language Arts and eighth grade math are more relevant now than ever. That’s because those are two of the seven metrics the state is using as part of its new accountability plan. The state’s multi-year goals also include attendance, graduation, and the share of students on track at the end of ninth grade.

The state’s target for third grade ELA is 52.6% by the 2029-2030 school year. Thursday’s results for 2026 put Oregon at 41.5%.

The target for eighth-grade math is 52%. The most recent result is 30%.

Local school districts will have their own targets to meet, set in partnership between each of Oregon’s 197 school districts and the state. By reaching those local goals, the state expects to make double-digit increases in math and English proficiency.

“Without the funding, without the staffing, without the professional development, it’ll be very hard” to meet those goals, said La Grande superintendent George Mendoza.

La Grande’s scores were down this year, by two percentage points in English and half a percentage point in math. La Grande assistant superintendent Scott Carpenter said there are several possible reasons for the drop, including a focus on reading that downplayed writing skills.

Standardized tests taken toward the end of a school year give summative information that may have little connection to the day-to-day work of classroom teachers.

“Do I want us to do great on a state test? All the time, I still do,” Mendoza said. “But that is not the driver of a good school system.”

Officials in the Hillsboro School District on the other side of the state agree.

“Our OSAS results are just one piece of the data puzzle,” said Hillsboro assistant superintendent Audrea Neville in a statement to OPB.

“Multiple measures such as interim assessments, which are offered to students in both English and Spanish, are used to monitor the growth and achievement of our students over the course of the school year.”

Like Salem-Keizer, the district continues to pay attention to data from smaller cohorts of students. Neville sees progress in literacy over time for elementary school students in Hillsboro.

From 5% to 100%, participation still a challenge statewide

The Crook County School District in Central Oregon has a lot to celebrate. The district saw huge growth in third and fourth-grade English Language Arts and math.

In a statement, Crook County Superintendent Joel Hoff said he’s proud of students’ growth.

“These results are a reflection of the hard work happening in our classrooms every day,” Hoff said. “Our goal is not simply to see a number increase, but to make sure every student has the support, opportunities, and strong instruction they need to be successful. We will celebrate this progress while continuing to look closely at where we can improve.”

Director of School Improvement Bri Van Roekel said the results show that the district’s investments in early literacy, including support for struggling students, is working.

But while the district is seeing achievement growth in the lower grades, school leaders in Prineville are seeing some of the same challenges as administrators across Oregon. At just 5%, 11th grade participation in Crook County’s ELA test is the lowest in the state (other school districts likely have even lower participation, but data suppression rules make it hard to know, especially for extremely small districts).

Van Roekel said 11th graders and their families don’t see the purpose of the state tests.

“We’ve struggled to get families to buy into it,” she said.

Crook County is far from the only district struggling with participation.

Federal law requires 95% participation in state standardized tests. But due to a 2015 Oregon law allowing students to opt out of those tests, “all grades and most student groups remain below the 95% federal requirement” statewide, according to ODE assistant superintendent Andrea Lockard.

Recently, Oregon was one of several states not included in a Harvard Center for Education Policy Research report on academic progress due to low participation rates.

ODE officials say they’ll continue to “emphasize the importance of participation” in order to collect better data.

Mendoza, the La Grande superintendent, said the opt-out policy “waters down” results.

“Not having to participate undermines our system, gives us poor data, and crumbles the expectation,” he said. “You want really great outcomes, but you’re not going to require people to participate? That doesn’t fit.”

In Crook County, Van Roekel said they don’t discourage students from taking the test, but at the end of the day, it’s up to students and their families.

“We’re required to offer it, we’re always going to offer it,” Van Roekel said.

“We want families to be able to make whatever choice they want to make for their student.”

Instead, Crook County has started offering a different test for juniors, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB test. Students take it in a “careers” class required for graduation, and Van Roekel said participation on that test has been much better.

“We’re able to use those results to begin guiding some decision-making” around college and career, Van Roekel said.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/09/24/oregon-state-standardized-tests-students/