Accountability

The Office of Accountability strives to ensure visibility into the performance of all Oklahoma students and public schools by providing school administrators, educators, parents, and communities the tools and information necessary to identify areas of success and opportunities for improvement. As stewards of the Oklahoma Accountability System, we are guided by the principle that all students can grow, and all schools can improve.

For additional information on the Accountability System, including long-term goals and measurements of interim progress (e.g., academic achievement targets), please see the pages linked on the left (or in the Menu dropdown if you are accessing this page on a mobile device) and the Oklahoma ESSA Plan.

• The Oklahoma School Report Cards site (oklaschools.com) added a new school locator feature displaying both public and non-public schools on the map. Try it out by selecting "Search Schools Near You" and entering your address. This supports the Oklahoma School Choice Initiative.

In June 2016, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed House Bill 3218 (HB 3218), which required the State Board to address accountability requirements under ESSA using a multi-measure approach that included incorporation of student performance on state-wide subject area tests, graduation rates, progress toward proficiency of English learners, and one additional statewide measure of school quality or student success.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) engaged stakeholders to evaluate Oklahoma’s current school and district accountability system and make recommendations for its future. It held regional meetings across the state and convened the 95-member Oklahoma Assessment and Accountability Task Force, which met four times between August 4 and November 9, 2016, to deliberate over the many technical, policy, and practical issues associated with implementing an improved assessment system.

Through this process, the OSBE established the core elements of the current accountability system articulated in Oklahoma's consolidated ESSA state plan, Oklahoma EDGE. 

In 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to replace the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. ESSA restores greater flexibility about federal education policy to states and districts while ensuring accountability for the success of all children. Through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) reaffirmed its focus on strengthening education, enhancing professional development, and more. It also provides an opportunity to spotlight the OSDE’s commitment to the power of individualism.  Reports demonstrating compliance with federal statute include data found on the Public School Report Cards and those reported through EdFacts to the National Center for Educational Statistics. 

Federal law requires that states and districts, receiving Title I funding, participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and mathematics assessments every two years. Schools and students selected to participate in NAEP samples provide important comparative data, allowing educators and policymakers to benchmark the success of their elementary and secondary education programs to those across the nation. NAEP develops data in several subject areas and produces reports for the nation, participating states, and some urban school districts. The reports and data derived from the NAEP assessment are used by education leaders, policymakers, the press, curriculum specialists, teachers, researchers, and others. 

NAEP Data can be viewed on the Public Dashboard at
https://oklaschools.com/state/contextual/naep/.

The Office of Accountability is responsible for

• Collaborating with school administrators to ensure data utilized in the Accountability System is accurate and reliable through the Accountability Reporting application.
• Developing data sets used in reports, including the Oklahoma School Report Cards, EdFacts reports to the federal government, and reports such as the Public Dropout Report.
• Providing data to educational stakeholders requested through Open Records Requests. 
• Maintaining the Accountability Reporting application accessible to schools where all accountability-related data is displayed for school use. 
• Supporting other SDE offices, including Accreditation, School Support, Assessments, English Language Proficiency, Special Education, and others with data verification services and critical data sets.  

Office of Accountability
(405) 522-5169
Accountability@sde.ok.gov