Last week, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Oklahoma districts would no longer be required to administer current end-of-the-year math and English tests for third- through eighth-grade.
But the U.S. Department of Education says he doesn’t yet have the authority to do that.
A senior department official spoke with StateImpact Thursday and said Walters’ announcement that districts will instead be allowed to use benchmark assessments was premature.
The official said the request must go through public comment, then the department must send in the comments and how they’ve responded to them, as well as conduct a “meaningful consultation” with districts.
“I know there’s been some remarks about this being a done deal. That is nowhere near where we are right now,” the official said. “We are still very, very early in this, and (the Oklahoma State Department of Education) need(s) to take the public comment portion of this seriously and truly incorporate that, and use that feedback before we go any further. … This is in no way approved by the department, and I think that’s really important to clarify for Oklahoma parents and families.”
Walters announced in an Aug. 8 news release a “transformative shift in Oklahoma’s approach to student assessment, marking the end of traditional statewide summative testing as we know it.”
“Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education will allow districts to use approved benchmark assessments in place of the current high-states end-of-the-year tests for grades 3-8 in Math and English Language Arts,” the release said.
The tests are required by state law and the Every Student Succeeds Act, a federal law.
OSDE is requesting a federal waiver to expand the use of other assessments, including the conservative-backed Classical Learning Test.
The waiver request applies to the math and ELA tests for third through eighth graders, science tests for fifth, eighth and eleventh graders, and the ACT for eleventh graders.
Public comment closes Sept. 8. The U.S. Department of Education has 120 days to respond.
Last week, StateImpact asked OSDE Press Secretary Madison Cercy to clarify if the department rolled out a policy dependent on approval of a federal waiver, and subject to public comment, before either had been finalized. She replied the department is “following the federal process,” and did not return a request for further clarification.
The U.S. Department of Education official also said Walters’ staff sent a draft of the proposed policy on Aug. 1 to the department and asked for feedback. Before the department could reply, it was posted for public comment.
“They just posted it publicly and said, ‘By the way, we put this out there.’ No real reason for why. We asked, ‘Well, I thought you wanted some feedback first?’ And they said, ‘We just had to move to the public comment phase,’” the official from the U.S. Department of Education said. “Again, don’t know why that is. Don’t know what changed in a week.”
The official said the U.S. Department of Education answered with a 4-page response of everything the draft was missing, saying OSDE had not made clear how the plan would improve academic achievement.
The official said the federal department sent out a letter on July 29 laying out the process for a waiver. The spirit of the waiver, they said, is to give states more flexibility from testing provisions when states can show they are getting in the way of enhancing student academics.
“(The Trump) administration’s priorities are improving academics, empowering parents and expanding high quality school choice options. Assessment and accountability is critical to all three of those things,” the official said. “And we made it clear in that response that we’re going to closely scrutinize any waiver requests that pertain to assessment and accountability.”
Walters’ office did not return a request for a response.
In addition to federal permission, it appears Oklahoma lawmakers would also need to get on board to overturn state law requiring the tests. Rep. Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee), chair of the House Education Oversight Committee, reiterated those requirements in an Aug. 8 news release.
“End-of-year state assessments are mandated by both state and federal law, …” Krebs said. “We look forward to continued collaboration with Superintendent Walters and school districts so that any proposed changes to student testing align with state law and provides clear, actionable information on student college and career readiness.”
The existing tests have been the source of controversy in recent years after OSDE quietly altered the cut score metric in 2024, which gave the impression of higher scores. The Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability voted this spring to throw out the new metrics and return the state to the nationally aligned standards.
StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.