Pandemic pause on proficiency for graduation to continue until 2027-28.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oregon Board of Education unanimously voted to pause the requirement for students to show proficiency in reading, writing, and math to graduate high school. During an October 2023 meeting, the board agreed to continue freezing the requirements up until the 2027-28 school year. They made this decision specifically because of impacts on students of color.

Former Gov. Kate Brown originally signed a bill pausing the graduation requirements due to students’ inability to take standardized tests such as  during school closures. This decision led to lawmakers taking a closer look at Oregon’s graduation requirements. 

After discussions with families, students, and educators, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) decided to propose a new graduation plan that included doing away with the minimum proficiency requirement for reading, writing, and math. The ODE claimed that these requirements didn’t benefit students, but rather hindered their ability to graduate, with students of color being particularly affected.

“[The requirements] did not work. What they were designed to do is protect student interests. We have no evidence that they did that,” noted Dan Farley, Assistant Superintendent of Research and Data for ODE.

A 2021 analysis by the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission found that there was no real correlation between implementing proficiency standards and the outcomes for students in their first year of college. The analysis pointed out that student success in higher education does not rely solely on reading or math skills.

“We haven’t suspended any sort of assessments,” state board member Vicky López Sánchez confirmed. “The only thing we are suspending is the inappropriate use of how those assessments were being used. I think that really is in the best interest of Oregon students.”

However, there was significant backlash towards the decision to suspend these high school graduation requirements. Many people sent letters to the board and argued that it devalued a high school diploma.

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan took a stance against the 2020 decision. She argued that Oregon didn’t need to decrease their standards; rather they should create a plan to increase academic achievement. 

“The board failed to discuss their responsibility for lagging academic achievement in our state,” Drazan claimed. “Instead they cast the blame on a tool used to measure a student’s ability to read, write, and do math. It’s disappointing that these unelected bureaucrats decided to ignore public comment and continue down a path that neglects their responsibility to help students meet high standards.”

Regardless of whether or not this was a wise decision, it will have an impact on high school students in Oregon.

“There is no perfect system,” South English teacher Madison Billings said. “I understand from a theoretical level that, if a student passes their language arts and math classes, they should be proficient; however, we don’t have proficiency grading here, which means that they may be proficient in some areas, but they may have huge gaps in their knowledge.”

Since current seniors were in eighth grade when the pandemic hit, none of them have had experience with pre-pandemic high school standards. The 16-month-long quarantine that followed the spread of COVID-19 set many students and classes behind in their curriculum because of lack of teaching time. Recent class test scores show that there are areas of reading, writing, and math that lack proficiency for each grade level. Some teachers have expressed that students are not necessarily doing as well on some assessments as they had in previous years. However, proficiency can be shown in numerous ways.

“I mean, is the best reflection of your academic success in high school, a Saturday for three and a half hours?” South counselor Michael Leahy said. “Or is it three plus years of a high school transcript and all sorts of diverse subjects?”

Among South students, there seems to be a huge weight lifted off of everyone’s shoulders with the continued pause of proficiency requirements, especially with the new schedule.

“I know our teachers aren’t going to miss the test,” Leahy said. “Teachers are already, as many have said, stressed about the lack of time they have with students. Imagine if we then had to put these layers of all these subject tests in their world, as well. That’s, again, more time that they don’t get to spend on their own subject area.”

In the past, since teachers had limited time, students had to devote extra time to studying, on top of all their other homework and extracurriculars, in order to get scores that make them stand out to colleges. These students were, historically, the students with more accessibility to resources, such as private tutors and technology. Because of this, the socioeconomic gap between students widened, leading to these tests being seen as unfair and favoring a specific group of students.

Currently, many colleges and universities are becoming test-optional or test-blind. This means, theoretically, they aren’t factoring test scores into admissions. However, this may not always be the case.

“I think that the dirty little secret is that those more highly selective schools, even though they might say, ‘We’re test optional,’ are probably expecting some kind of strong test score,” Leahy argued. “I don’t necessarily trust the highly selective schools to be fully test-optional. I think there is still some expectation that you are providing some kind of standardized test score to validate the grades. But, again, tests are not the best reflection of everybody’s learning.”

There is speculation about whether or not the tests will be reinstated in 2029, while arguments remain for both sides. In the meantime, students and faculty at South are continuing to work on improving proficiency in meaningful ways in the classroom.

Article by Jada Jones