Oregon
Letter from the Editor: We help decipher Oregon’s dismal test scores
As I have said before, journalists work behind the scenes every day to lobby for release of public information. That came into sharp relief recently when Oregon delayed publishing school test scores.
The reason cited by the Department of Education was hard to argue with: The state said it wanted to make the scores more transparent and easier to digest.
“The change comes after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on a national study that ranked Oregon among the worst states in the country for student achievement transparency,” education reporter Julia Silverman wrote.
But skeptical journalists also wondered whether the delay was to give government spinmeisters a bit more time to soften the blow of bad results. And the planned release on a Friday raised eyebrows further.
Lynne Terry, editor of the Oregon Capital Chronicle, flagged the issue for other Oregon journalists.
The “Friday news dump” is a tried-and-true tactic to bury news on a day (better yet a Friday afternoon or evening) when newsrooms are slammed wrapping up the workweek. And follow-up articles over the weekend are less likely because of lighter newsroom staffing. By Monday, interest fades as new storylines emerge.
The dropping of important information on Fridays has been around as long as there have been people paid to manage the release of bad news.
Marc Siegel, Education Department spokesperson, denies that was the intent. “That idea never came up. ODE chose Friday to give journalists more time to review, ask clarifying questions and write about a very large volume of data and ensure the data are accessible to the public and press.”
As far as Oregon test scores, a short embargo is typical for complicated data sets.
“I have been covering test score data release in Oregon for 27 years,” said Betsy Hammond, longtime education editor at The Oregonian/OregonLive. “We have always gotten the data on an embargoed basis with about three days to parse it before we are allowed to make it public. …
“In my experience, having three days to examine and analyze the data and ask school districts questions has helped our newsroom and others avoid mistakes and provide accurate contextualized information to help readers understand what’s there.”
She and Silverman agreed, however, that the Friday release was problematic. Test scores have routinely been released on Thursdays, three days after journalists receive them under embargo. Keep in mind the tests were given last spring.
After hearing of the unexpected delay, journalists from the Salem Reporter, Oregon Capital Chronicle, Oregon Public Broadcasting and The Oregonian/OregonLive wrote to the director of the Education Department, Charlene Williams, and copied their concerns to the office of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek.
Citing public records law, the letter noted timely release was required. Also, “embargoing public information until a Friday is a common tactic to limit the dissemination of that information to the widest audience possible,” the letter said. “As journalists, our job is to help the public understand a wide variety of issues, including public education. Releasing information near a weekend, when it is commonly known people consume less news, will from our perspective limit transparency.”
Ryan Haas, managing editor at OPB, took the lead in drafting the letter. The Salem Reporter’s Rachel Alexander, who had filed the records request, signed on along with Hammond and Terry.
Kotek’s office said the initial delay was solely “to ensure the data was more accessible and comprehensible to the press and public.” Upon learning of the media’s public records request, the governor’s office asked the department to move up the release time.
By Monday, the Department of Education said it would release the information on Thursday, as usual. And indeed, the news was bad.
Silverman had noted it was difficult for people to compare school performance over time, from before the COVID-19 pandemic to afterward. Comparing test results for each school or district involved finding data points in multiple large spreadsheets.
That remains the case (though Siegel said more data would soon be available).
Even with the extra time, the data released Thursday is not easy to parse for parents. Comparing the new scores to those from just before and after the pandemic requires locating and downloading at least six separate Excel files from the state’s website.
The Oregonian/OregonLive to the rescue. In order to add clarity, data specialist Mark Friesen jumped in to create data visualizations showing pre- and post-pandemic performance trends for every school in our database, found at schools.oregonlive.com.
Readers can compare test scores in 2018 to the current scores. This helps pinpoint learning losses during the pandemic.
We hope readers find it informative.
Dillon Gabriel has led the Oregon Ducks to a 10-0 overall record and the No. 1 ranking the for the past four weeks. The Hawaiian native has thrown for 22 touchdowns (tied for No. 6 in the nation) on 2,848 passing yards (No. 8 in the nation) this season so far. His 74.1 completion rate (No. 1 in the nation) and 168.38 passer rating (No. 6 in the nation) are the stats that have stood out the most from his remarkable campaign.
Because of his efforts, he’s being considered as a candidate for the Heisman Trophy plus was announced as a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. Adding to this long list of honors, he’s now being considered for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award which is given to the top senior at the quarterback position in college football.
Joining Gabriel as the finalists for this award are Ole Miss Running Rebels Jaxson Dart, Colorado Buffaloes Shedeur Sanders, Miami Hurricanes Cam Ward, and Indiana Hoosiers Kurtis Rourke. Gabriel isn’t the first Duck to be considered for the Johnny Unitas Award. Only Marcus Mariota in 2014 has actually won it, but Joey Harrington (2001), Kellen Clemons (2005), Dennis Dixon (2007), Justin Herbert (2019, Anthony Brown Jr. (2021), and Bo Nix (2022 and 2023) were all named finalists.
Gabriel recently broke the NCAA’s all-time record for total touchdowns with 180 total throughout his career spent with the UCF Golden Knights, Oklahoma Sooners, and Oregon. He passed Houston’s Case Keenum previous record of 178 total last week during the 39-18 victory over the Maryland Terrapins.
Gabriel is on the precipice of two major NCAA awards. Gabriel is just three starts by a quarterback away from breaking former Duck Nix’s all-time record at 61 which he should have full control of at some point this season. Gabriel will now set his sights on Keenum’s all-time record for touchdown passes of 155, entering Saturday with 147 in his career.
“You can’t go through that game without recognizing, you know, having the all-time NCAA touchdown record for Dillon Gabriel and what he was able to accomplish there. He’ll be the first one to tell you he doesn’t care, but he should, because that’s a really special moment for him.”
– Coach Dan Lanning after Maryland-Oregon
Coach Dan Lanning and his quarterback have bigger things to worry about than individual awards and records. Oregon will play at Wisconsin this Saturday, Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m. PT.
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Tonight, Wayne Tinkle’s Oregon State Beavers notched their fourth win of the season by beating Cal State-Fullerton, 70-51, at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. The winless Titans fought hard and held a halftime lead, holding onto their advantage until just past the 12-minute mark of the second half before Oregon State went on a run to break the game open.
After the second media timeout of period two, the Beavers locked in, outscoring Fullerton 25-6 over the last eight minutes of the contest to create a 19-point lead. Before that, Fullerton defended their 32-25 halftime lead admirably against a much more talented Oregon State squad, but eventually, the talent took over for the Beavers.
Oregon State finished with three players in double figures, led by Nate Kingz, who scored 22 points on 6-for-9 from the field, all of which were from beyond the arc, and also recorded eight boards. Michael Rataj had 18 points and 10 rebounds on 7-for-13 shooting, while Lithuanian wing Liutauras Lelevicius, who was cleared to play by the NCAA just before the season started, added 12 points on 4-for-8 (3-for-6 from deep). Guard DaMarco Minor struggled with efficiency, but managed nine points and five assists with zero turnovers, playing the lead initiator role effectively in facilitating the offense.
For Fullerton, just one player scored 10-plus: Davis Bynum put up 12 points on 55% shooting and 40% from three on five attempts. No one else scored more than eight; their leading scorer entering the game, Donovan Oday, had a particularly tough evening, shooting just 2-for-11 overall and 0-for-2 on threes.
Though it was a very shaky start for Oregon State, they demonstrated what they can look like when they focus in on an inferior opponent, evident in their 19-point swing over the last eight minutes of the game. They held the Titans to 22.7% from beyond the arc, and only allowed them to get to the line 13 times compared to their own 24 attempts.
Their next game, on Thursday, will be by far their biggest test to date as they host cross-state rival Oregon, giving them an opportunity for an early-season victory that could help define their 2024 campaign.
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The No. 1 Oregon Ducks hit the road for the final time in the regular season as they travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in Camp Randall Stadium.
Badgers’ coach Luke Fickell spoke at length about how the Ducks may be the best team that Wisconsin has lined up against this season.
Fickell said on Monday that the Badgers are going challenged by the explosive offensive that the Ducks possess.
“They are going to be challenged in different ways,” Fickell noted. “You can be challenged each and every week in a lot of different ways. This one will be one we maybe haven’t seen the entire year. The ability for them to throw the ball down the field, the dynamic of the wide receivers they have and the quarterback’s ability. . . to make plays both with his feet and through the air.”
It’s been a tough year for the Badgers as their season hasn’t gone exactly to plan. They sit at 5-4, currently in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. Despite the adversity, Fickell remains adamant that his team hasn’t lost hope for the season and knows that a win over the Ducks could put some juice back into the program.
“You continue to remind them that this is what we signed up for. We recognize that this league, and college football in general, is evolving. This is what you play for. You have every opportunity to go out there and earn the respect that you want,” Fickell said.
The Badgers are going to have to play better defense than they did in their last outing, giving up 42 points to Iowa in a 42-10 loss on Nov. 2. Fickell, a defensive-minded coach, knows his unit needs to play better, but he has faith in his team to get the job done.
“We’ve got guys who we believe are really good football players. They’re gonna be put in some positions to be challenged. . . . I’ve got the utmost confidence they’ll step up to the challenge,” Fickell said.
Oregon is currently favorited by 13.5 points heading into Saturday’s showdown with the Badgers. The game will be broadcasted on NBC and kickoff is at 4:30 p.m.
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