Oregon Statewide Assessments System (OSAS)

The Oregon Department of Education introduced the new Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) in 2018-2019. 

While we remain strong partners with our Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia, the Next Generation Science Standards Collaborative, and the ELPA21 Consortium, our statewide assessments are customized for Oregon. ODE defines the blueprints that our assessments adhere to and how our assessments are administered. Oregon teachers are involved in all possible aspects of test development, as well, including item development, item reviews, scoring rubric validation, and validation studies. In short, our assessment system is “Oregonized” in order to meet the needs and values of our constituents. Related to this understanding, we will not be using vendor labels in our discussions about the statewide assessments in our technical documentation or discussions about our assessments.

We’re also at the end of our use of our historical Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) assessments. Science is a new assessment, and Social Sciences is transitioning to a performance-assessment-based system in 2019-20. You will no longer see our assessments referenced with an OAKS label for this reason. 

Our regulations refer to our statewide assessment system as just that, Oregon’s Statewide Assessment System. We’ll be using that general descriptor and the OSAS abbreviation moving forward.

Why State Assessment Matter

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has created a website for our school community so we better understand state assessments. It shows how to read the assessment score reports that students receive, a link to the practice tests, and several other resources.

Here a couple of helpful videos from the ODE about state assessments. The videos provide an overview of the resources that ODE has made available for districts to support balanced approaches to assessment, leveraging formative assessment practices, interim assessments, and summative assessments in a coherent, comprehensive manner to help drive instruction in the moment, periodically throughout the year, and annually to support student learning.​

What is assessment?

Why do we use assessments?

Here are some helpful flyers about why state assessments matter

For Students:

WHY STATE TESTING PARTICIPATION MATTERS TO STUDENTS How Does Taking State Tests Help Me? • It allows you an opportunity to demonstrate what you know and can do in English language arts, math, and science. This can help shape what you focus on learning next. • It gives you and your family reliable information that you can use to compare with other assessment information, like grades and school and district assessment results. • Participating gives your teachers and school leaders information to improve the curriculum and teaching practices they are using to support all students. • Testing is a regular part of learning and helps guide learning decisions at the system level and this is good practice to prepare for testing that you may experience in your in college and/or career journey. • Remember that The United States passed a law in 2015 that requires statewide testing in certain grades and subjects. All students in these grades take state tests. Did you know? Not too long ago, some students were not included in testing, such as students experiencing disabilities and students federally identified as English learners. Because all students take the same test, schools and teachers can think about all students when they are planning. What are Some Things to Keep in Mind? • If test taking makes you nervous, practice strategies that help you relax during testing (e.g., breathing exercises, stretching, muscle relaxation). • Talk with your family or teacher about whether there are things that might make it easier for you to take Oregon’s state tests, such as more time or a quiet area. CONTACT ODE’s Assessment Team Webpage Please send any questions, comments, or recommendations to: ODE.AssessmentTeam@ode.oregon.gov ODE Assessment Resources Parent Assessment Literacy Training Modules

For Families:

WHY STATE TESTING PARTICIPATION MATTERS TO FAMILIES How Does Taking State Tests Help My Child? • It provides information about your child’s learning toward English language arts, math, and science standards that you can review with other information from the school and ask questions if needed. • It offers you an opportunity to check your child’s progress toward meeting some of the skills needed for college and/or career. • It provides you and other families in your community with information about how local schools are meeting the needs of all students. How Does Taking State Tests Help My Child’s School? • It provides critical information on how well all students in your child’s school are doing on learning English language arts, math, and science standards, so the school can be equitably supported with assistance and resources. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)—the federal law that governs general education in public schools across the country—was passed in 2015 and requires statewide testing in certain grades and subjects. Did you know? Because all students take the same test, schools and teachers can think about all students when they are planning. Not too long ago, some students were not included in testing, such as students with disabilities and students who are federally identified as English learners. National Center on Educational Outcomes www.nceo.info NCEO is supported through a cooperative agreement (H326G160001) between the University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) (#H326G160001) and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Office of Special Education Programs. The materials do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Project Officer: David Egnor • It helps identify system strengths and areas where growth is needed across time to evaluate curriculum, instruction, and other assessment practices. How Should My Child’s Test Results Be Used? • Remember that the quality of a school is more than the sum of its test results. Avoid judgments or decisions based solely on state test results. • Make state test results part of conversations about your child’s learning. Look for alignment with other information about your child’s learning from their teacher and school. Ask questions if the information is not consistent. • Decisions about opportunities for your child–such as challenging math pathways, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Talented and Gifted programs–should be based on multiple sources of evidence, not state test results alone. CONTACT ODE’s Assessment Team Webpage Please send any questions, comments, or recommendations to: ODE.AssessmentTeam@ode.oregon.gov ODE Assessment Resources The Right Assessment for the Right Purpose Parent Assessment Literacy Training Modules Results of state tests help identify trends in learning. This is especially important if groups of students, such as students with disabilities and students federally identified as English learners, are being underserved. State testing gives a snapshot of how a whole school system is performing in key areas. This helps with decisions that will improve instruction and provide targeted resources and support to different schools. Student test data helps improve our understanding of how well we are teaching and supporting our students.

Additional Resources: