OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — In a significant shift in educational policy, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the end of traditional statewide summative testing for grades 3-8 in Math and English Language Arts.
Starting in the 2025–2026 school year, districts will be allowed to use approved benchmark assessments instead of end-of-year tests.
This decision comes after a survey of nearly 23,000 parents, according to Walters, with 81% indicating that state testing is unnecessary for evaluating student learning.
“The teachers-union-approach is failing our kids,” said Walters. “By moving away from outdated state tests and empowering local districts, we’re reducing the burden on students, parents, and teachers while ensuring high-quality education that is no longer driven by bureaucrats or outside groups.”
The Oklahoma State Department of Education has been pursuing education reform, aiming to shift power from teachers’ unions to parents. Walters emphasized the influence of the Trump Administration in this decision, stating that Oklahoma families are benefiting from the administration’s policies by returning power to the states and, ultimately, to parents.
Secretary of Education Nellie Tayloe Sanders released a statement about Walters’ dramatic shift to end statewide testing. She called it “short-sighted”:
Oklahoma students deserve to have a high quality education. Standardized tests have long been criticized in the education system. While we can all agree that the status quo isn’t working, tossing out tests without thinking through next steps can be short sighted. I look forward to working with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to find a path forward to ensure our kids have the skills they need for their futures.
Sanders, who also heads up the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, recently changed the testing standard in May. That led to delays in scores getting to schools and parents, which are just now trickling in.
In a sit-down interview with FOX 25’s Wendy Suares on July 29th, Superintendent Walters talked about the change in standards and the delay.
“OEQA has messed that whole system up,” Walters said. “We’ve told them, get these things out, get this thing done, what are you guys doing?”
For the 2024 school year, Walters had used standardized test scores to claim the quality of Oklahoma’s education system was improving. The change to cut scores in May aligned more with previous standards the state had used for years, and what closely resembled standards used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
On top of the 2025 test scores just now trickling in with a new, higher standard, Oklahoma recently ranked 50th in Education in a WalletHub study. The study relied on student performance, along with a slew of other criteria.
