by Anne Nesse
LWVOR would like to clear up some media mis-information about temporarily revising Oregon’s High School graduation requirements, with a more accurate OPB report.
“So what has actually changed since signing SB 744 in the 2021 Legislative Session? The short answer is, not much.”
“Senate Bill 744 orders a review of state graduation requirements and suspends a requirement that Oregon 2022, 2023, and 2024 students show proficiency in Essential Learning Skills in order to graduate. Oregon students still have to pass their high school classes and earn 24 credits to graduate. State tests are coming back this year after two years' absence, with state summative assessments scheduled for early 2022. But with the removal of the Essential Skills requirement, high school students no longer have to reach a certain score, or turn in a portfolio of work samples.”
We are now on hold till our Department of Education works on better guidelines than just one test or set of materials, to determine our student’s abilities upon graduation.
“Districts have already started sharing ODE’s notice form to alert parents.”
Several legislators pointed out that the Covid Pandemic provided us with an “opportunity” to re-assess how we were actually evaluating student’s basic abilities.