SALEM, Ore. — Oregon state released results from their kindergarten assessment and found the numbers hadn't changed much from last year.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Early Learning Division (ELD) jointly released results from the 2019-20 Oregon Kindergarten Assessment.
The assessment is given each fall to entering kindergartners and provides a snapshot of students’ foundational skills in three core areas of learning and development: early literacy, early math and interpersonal/self-regulation skills.
“Opportunity gaps for children begin at birth. Our Kindergarten Assessment results continue to underscore that our youngest children do not have access to the quality early learning they need,” said Miriam Calderon, Oregon’s Early Learning System director. “We’ve started to move this needle through the Student Success Act and need continued focus on providing supports that are proven to have a long-term impact for young children and families.”
The Student Success Act, which was passed by the 2019 Oregon Legislature, expands access to high-quality preschool. The act also includes funding for the newly established Early Childhood Equity Fund, which creates culturally specific early learning and parent support programs. Though the investments will help support more children and families in Oregon, they say there will still be too few preschoolers unserved in publicly-funded, high-quality preschool.
2019-20 Oregon Kindergarten Assessment results:
• Earlymath scores: students correctly answered 11 out of 16 simple math questions. In the previous year, correct scores came in at 11.1.
• Scores for approaches to learning remained the same at 3.6 out of 5. This key assessment includes examining a student’s social-emotional well-being via teachers observing and leading the student through daily activities such as following directions or cooperatively playing in groups.
• Early literacy scores: Oregon kindergartners recognized 7.7 letter sounds, 14.3 uppercase letters, and 11.6 lowercase letters. The only difference from the previous year was a lower case letter score of 11.7.
Kindergarten assessment results, including a breakdown by school district, can be found here. Private schools are not reflected in the results.
