OSDE extends testing window to give students opportunity for best performance

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 9, 2018) – As Oklahoma’s statewide teacher walkout has continued past one week and districts representing the majority of students have announced school closures into a second week, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister today announced the extension of the Oklahoma School Testing Program schedule, which began April 2. 

The adjustment of federally mandated assessments means the testing window for grade 3-8 general assessments and grade 11 science assessments are now extended by one week from the original deadline.

“Our schoolchildren must have the opportunity to confidently show their best work. This extension is essential to better support students and ensure an appropriate transition back into classrooms,” stated Hofmeister. “It is also critical that districts have the maximum opportunity possible to meet both state and federal requirements. Federal law requires states to assess 95 percent of the student population. This extension hopefully will prevent jeopardizing of federal funding or incurring penalty.”

For information on how this extension impacts specific required tests, click here.  

Survey finds low teacher pay main reason for leaving Oklahoma classrooms

OKLAHOMA CITY – Teacher pay and education funding are among the chief reasons former Oklahoma educators have left the classroom, according to a comprehensive survey released by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE). State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister discussed the findings Mondayat a news conference at OSDE.

Hofmeister noted that 31 percent of the respondents indicated they would likely return to the classroom if teacher pay were increased – a net gain of thousands of additional educators in the classroom if the data were extrapolated.

“As our state continues suffering the effects of an unprecedented teacher shortage, Oklahoma cannot afford to ignore the results of this survey,” Hofmeister said. “Pay is no cure-all to staving off this shortage, but without regionally competitive compensation, we are trying to win a home run contest with one arm held behind our back.”

The survey was one of 40 recommendations made by the Teacher Shortage Task Force, a still-active panel that Hofmeister convened in September 2015. The Oklahoma Public School Resource Center (OPSRC), a member of that task force, funded the survey, which Oklahoma City-based polling firm Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates conducted this past fall.

“It was important to partner with OSDE on this project, which has important implications for all education stakeholders,” said Brent Bushey, executive director of OPSRC. “Funding a survey of this scope would have been a challenge for OSDE, and we wanted to step up to make it happen.”

The survey was sent to a list of nearly 30,000 deliverable emails. Of that number, there were 7,546 completions. Survey results focused on the 5,487 respondents under the age of 65 with active teaching certificates who are not currently teaching in Oklahoma public schools. The large sample size yielded a margin of error of less than 1 percent.

The vast majority of respondents, 90 percent, said they believe other teachers were leaving the classroom because of low pay, with 55 percent strongly agreeing with that statement. In addition, a significant number indicated that being unable to make decisions related to instruction and impediments to practicing the art of teaching were important factors in leaving the classroom.

When asked for their individual reasons for leaving, one-third identified pay or a better opportunity as the chief reason. However, a number of other factors cited by respondents – including inadequate education funding, hiring difficulties, relocating out of state and personal reasons – can also be related to matters of teacher compensation. 

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The majority of respondents felt that from their first year in the classroom to their last, the quality of the work environment had deteriorated rather than improved. Nearly half (48 percent) believed it had deteriorated a great deal. When asked to identify why, more pointed to funding issues (17 percent) than low pay (15 percent) though again, the two may overlap.

In terms of certification type, the largest percentage of those who said pay was a primary reason for leaving were special education and secondary teachers.

Hofmeister said that finding is especially troubling.

“We have raised academic standards and expectations to give our students a competitive edge. We have a strong eight-year plan in place for education, but all of it depends on having well-supported teachers for our kids,” she said. “It is also alarming that our special education teachers are particularly pay sensitive, which does not bode well for serving our students with the greatest needs.”

Of particular interest among the survey results is the strong age line regarding pay sensitivity. Those under the age of 45 were more concerned about pay than older teachers. Forty-eight percent of respondents 18-24, 37 percent of those 24-34, and 36 percent of those 35-44 said that pay alone would be sufficient for them to return to the classroom.

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Only in the age 18-24 category did more respondents indicate that pay alone, as opposed to more than pay, would bring them back to the classroom. Nonetheless, 31 percent of all those surveyed indicated that a pay increase would be sufficient to convince them to return. 

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“While the survey reveals that a number of factors attribute to the teacher shortage,” said Hofmeister, “it also confirms that increasing teacher pay is the single most effective first step to reducing the crisis and perhaps even convincing teachers who have left the field to return.”

To see the report, click here.

OSDE study shows minimal cost savings for schools with 4-day weeks

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 13, 2017) –  A recent study by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) casts doubt on the assumption that switching to a four-day school week saves money for districts.

For the 2016-17 school year, the number of districts on a four-day school week nearly doubled from the previous year. Ninety-seven districts have made the switch, many citing cost savings as a primary reason amid continued budget shortfalls.

The study, requested by Gov. Mary Fallin, analyzed expenditures of 16 school districts that have been on a four-day school week for six years. Results indicate that nine districts actually spent more money, on average, after the switch, while cost savings for the remainder were negligible.

When OSDE combined expenditures of all 16 districts, those districts spent on average $4,523 more on utilities, $2,714 less on food, $1,971 less on transportation and $8,542 more on support staff after switching to a four-day week than they had spent before the change.

“I appreciate the fact that districts are trying to cut expenses however they can,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister. “But we are very concerned about how this impacts children. We risk losing academic momentum when what we need is more time on learning, not less.”

To see the study and read more about the districts analyzed, click here.

“School boards care deeply about students, but it is important that they have accurate information,” said Hofmeister. ”There is a perception that there will be significant cost savings from a four-day school week, but the results of our survey were inconclusive, and the savings that did occur were very marginal. We believe the cost to students is far too great to consider the four-day week as a long-term strategy.“

A measure in this year's state legislative session, House Bill 1684, would require districts considering a four-day school week to submit a plan to OSDE detailing the goals that the district hopes to accomplish by shortening the school week. The measure is authored by Rep. Harold Wright and Sen. Eddie Fields.

“A plan would help spell out the anticipated savings,” Hofmeister said. “It will allow districts to go back and measure results. This is really about kids, and providing both local control and accountability. We want to make sure that schools have what they need and that our students are able to receive the best education possible.”