Oklahoma has been paying tens of thousands of dollars to administer a writing test for three straight years—with no results. According to KGOU's Oklahoma Watch,concerns have been raised about the writing test’s validity, and changing standards mean new tests must continually be created.
Writing test scores were first thrown out in 2014, after nearly 38 percent of students received the same score, a 2 out of 4. This raised concerns about the validity of the results. Ince again this year, school administrators reported seeing a large number of students receiving the same scores. Former state superintendent Janet Barresi, said that’s because both tests used the same flawed rubric for grading. The 2014 and 2015 rubric was designed for the Common Core academic standards, which the state has now repealed.
Current superintendent Joy Hofmeister has said she is committed to implementing a valid tool to evaluate students.