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.

Trent Bray’s Oregon State Beavers kept the spirit of #Pac12AfterDark alive on Saturday night with a roller coaster of a win over Colorado State that went to double-overtime. The Beavs managed to secure a 39-31 victory behind a career high in rushing yards for Anthony Hankerson (113). In total, the Beavs’ running game was once again the spark for the win, totaling 251 yards and five touchdowns.

While Gevani McCoy showed he still has plenty of room to grow in the passing game (16/28, 147 yards, one interception), his three rushing touchdowns and 91 rushing yards were critical in the win.

The Beavers are now 4-1 to start the season and 3-1 within the confines of Reser Stadium. They’ll try to move to 5-1 on October 12 against Jeff Choate’s Nevada rebounding team.

The Colorado State defense made an interception at the Oregon State 12-yard line on the Beavs’ first possession of the game. The Rams immediately capitalized with a 12-yard rushing touchdown by Justin Marshall. The Beavers tried to get back to business on their second possession, but lost a fumble by Jam Griffin.

Griffin would leave with an injury in the first quarter and did not return.

Gevani McCoy 29-yard touchdown run on an option to the right side to cap a ten-play, 82-yard drive on their opening drive of the second quarter.

CSU answered with a 25-yard field goal on the ensuing possession.

The Beavers were fortunate on the final possession of the second half, benefitting from two penalties on the Colorado State secondary inside the five-yard line, which gave them enough chances to eventually punch the ball in with Anthony Hankerson from one yard away. That made the score 14-10 heading into the break.

In the second half, the third quarter was a stalemate with the two sides trading punts. However, in the opening moments of the third quarter, McCoy scored his second rushing touchdown of the day: a seven-yard rush on fourth down that saw him run through multiple CSU defenders to make it 21-10.

For Colorado State, Tory Horton grabbed his first receiving touchdown of the season with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. That came after a 14-play, 75-yard drive that took six minutes and 53 seconds off the clock. The Rams went for two and did not convert.

With two minutes remaining in the game, Avery Morrow was able to give CSU their first lead of the game on a one-yard touchdown rush after a direct snap from a wildcat formation. Horton converted the two-point attempt on a reverse.

OSU kicker Everett Hayes nailed a 44-yard field goal to tie the game at 24-24 with 26 seconds remaining. CSU then mounted a drive into OSU territory, but did not score, bringing on overtime.

On Colorado State’s first OT possession, the Rams needed six plays and help from a pass interference call on Sailasa Vadrawale to eventually set up a touchdown reception by Caleb Goodie. The Beavs answered with Gevani McCoy’s third touchdown run of the evening, this time from 19 yards away.

Hankerson quickly put the Beavers on top at the start of the second overtime with a 25-yard touchdown rush and McCoy hit Jermaine Terry for the two-point conversion. Then, once again, the Beavers appeared to have Colorado State stopped on fourth down, but OSU committed a blatant pass interference to set CSU up at the two-yard line. However, the Beavs’ defense managed to hold and keep the pass out of Horton’s hands on the final play to wrap things up.

Fans stormed the field in Corvallis in celebration as the Beavers improved to 4-1 on the season.

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Consensus five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart is visiting the No. 6 Oregon Ducks on Oct. 12 as the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes come to Autzen Stadium. On Oct. 5, Stewart announced he will be reclassifying from the class of 2026 to the class of 2025.

Consensus five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart is visiting the No. 6 Oregon Ducks on Oct. 12 for the top-10 matchup with the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes On Oct. 5, Stewart announced he will be reclassifying from the class of 2026 to the class of 2025.

One week after revealing his plans to graduate a year early, Stewart will be in Autzen as the Buckeyes take on the Ducks.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning and Ohio State coach Ryan Day both have undefeated teams with College Football Playoff aspirations, but the recruiting never ends. Stewart projects as a player who can make an immediate impact.

After his visit to Eugene on Oct. 12, Stewart has plans to visit LSU on Nov. 9, USC on No. 16, and Ohio State on Nov. 30. Typically, the team with the last visit

The early signing period begins on Dec. 4, giving Day and the Buckeyes the last chance to make an impression on Stewart. That being said, LSU and USC have both been considered favorites throughout Stewart’s recruitment.

Stewart was already high-profile recruit, and he is now the No. 3 defensive lineman recruit in 2025 according to the 247Sports Composite.

247Sports Scouting Analyst Gabe Brooks thinks highly of Stewart, writing about the elite defensive lineman’s athleticism.

“Reportedly highly productive sophomore campaign with 85 tackles, 33 TFL, 20 sacks. Still developing pass-rush repertoire but has shown encouraging technical awareness,” said Brooks. “Elite young defensive line prospect given outstanding physical tools and promising movement ability who could become a serious NFL Draft candidate down the road.”

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