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Alpha Plus Blog: Alpha Plus News, Materials, Partners, and Education Materials

Alpha Plus Blog

Our latest press releases, and Oklahoma Education news. Subscribe for our teaching tips and resources for school improvement.

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APlusOklahoma

All of our tools used are aligned to Oklahoma Academic Standards.

 

Our benchmarks and common formatives are offered online and on paper.

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Critical Look at State School Report Cards Requires Recognition of Challenges – and Ways to Overcome Them

Alpha Plus Helps Report Card Scors

Since 2019 Oklahoma School Report Cards were issued a few short weeks ago, we’ve heard from a wide range of leaders cautioning their use as an accurate tool for measuring student success.

Those criticizing the report cards rightly point out that the needs of a school’s student population are impacted by factors that can’t be controlled by teachers and school administration.

Things like poverty, a high percentage of English Language Learners (ELL) and chronic absenteeism do indeed impact student success. What some miss though, is that the State School Report Cards already account for these when the grades are figured.

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Ryan Walters: Why school report cards matter

Ryan Walters

According to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 29 percent of Oklahoma students are reading proficient in fourth grade. This year, 46 percent of Oklahoma students didn’t meet a single ACT benchmark. In addition, 33 percent of schools saw a decrease of a letter grade on their school report card this year.

These statistics are incredibly troubling, especially when you know that each number represents a child with a bright future that gets dimmer by the day. No matter what numbers or measurements you use, it’s obvious our children are not learning the skills necessary to successfully enter the workforce, making it more difficult for them to lead a fulfilling life.

That’s why recent attacks on the Oklahoma School Report Cards are so disheartening. Instead of working to change the numbers, many would rather break the measuring stick. Despite the criticism from naysayers, the reality is that the school report cards are a vital accountability tool, providing families and communities insight into how their local school is performing and a comparison to others around the state.

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Point of View: National curriculum ignores Oklahoma academic standards

Jan crop 2017

Our CEO, Jan Barrick's column in The Oklahoman: "The crux of the matter is simple. We can have the best standards ever written, but if they aren’t being used, nothing changes. When students use textbooks written for Common Core, they are not prepared for the questions that will be asked by the state of Oklahoma in the spring."

Article published Wed., Dec 18, 2019
by Jan Barrick
In The Oklahoman

There’s an old expression that goes like this: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”

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New OAS Standard-Based Report Cards translated to Spanish

Alpha Plus OAS Standard-Based Report Cards now in Spanish!

Oklahoma Educators:  Download FREE Standard-Based Report Card templates

This fall, Oklahoma’s own school-improvement team had its Standard-Based Report Cards translated into Spanish. These went live on Alpha Plus Online October 8, just in time for the end of the first nine weeks.

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