Michael Dembrow and Teresa Alonso Leon
Dembrow represents District 23-Portland in the Oregon Senate and chairs the Senate Education Committee. Alonso Leon represents District 22-Woodburn in the Oregon House and chairs the House Education Committee. Both are Democrats.
Last week, both the Oregon Senate and House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 744, a bill that will require the Oregon Department of Education to review all high school diploma options and requirements, focusing on equity, accessibility and inclusivity.
Regrettably, this much-needed review of how Oregon schools measure our students’ progress has been met with a flood of misinformation, and we feel an obligation to Oregonians across the state to clarify all that this bill accomplishes.
To be clear, students will still do schoolwork, take tests and get graded. They will still need three credits of math and four credits of language arts, which includes reading and writing to graduate. What will be suspended for a period of time is the “essential skills” requirement, which as it stands, does not adequately or equitably evaluate students. We can and should do better.
In 2007, the state Board of Education created the essential skills requirement. When this requirement was being developed, Sen. Dembrow sat on the board. The intent of essential skills and other proficiency-based reforms was to have students demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing and math. Students could show this by passing a standardized test or applying their knowledge, through projects, portfolios and other work. We still believe this is a good idea.
Unfortunately, districts have experienced difficulty with the implementation of the portfolio option, instead over-relying on standardized exams. While standardized testing does and should play a role, students’ ability to apply what they have learned should also be front and center, which is why we passed SB 744. Ideally, essential skills would be demonstrated as part of a portfolio of work rather than a proctored test. This legislation allows us to revisit what our goals for graduating students should be, including for students with disabilities.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the tremendous obstacles families and students are facing, the Department of Education already suspended the requirement for the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. To allow the board to do a complete and comprehensive review of all the requirements, we have suspended the essential skills provision for two additional years. It didn’t make sense to bring an outdated requirement back, only to have it replaced by an improved and updated requirement soon after.
To say students will not have to prove they can write and do math to get a diploma is false and misleading to families and students. We fully expect the state Board of Education to return with standards that are just as rigorous but much more relevant to the skills students really need today, not just skill in passing a standardized test.
As a Legislature, when we take this sort of action we do so with the input of teachers, students, business leaders and education advocates. We listen. Organizations like FACT Oregon, Coalition of Oregon School Administrators and the Oregon School Boards Association have all been a part of this process. The final product of this bill was created in collaboration with a number of stakeholders who prioritize educational justice, which necessitates applying an equity lens to our education system, something we were proud to do here.
We cannot look back. Doing so would be a disservice to our students and future generations who are counting on us to provide equitable, sustainable and fair standards. We owe it to Oregonians to improve our education standards and prepare them for real success after they graduate. That starts with SB 744.
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June 23, 2021 at 08:18PM
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