The State Board of Education (SDE) set “a bit more ambitious goals” during the November 30, 2023, monthly meeting by passing two board orders and added that Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) will continue to report monthly progress to the SDE. The new goals followed the TPS team’s monthly progress report on the goals that they had proposed and reported on during the October SDE meeting. The events of the week following this meeting set the stage for the well-attended special TPS Board Meeting of Monday December 11, 2023.
The first goal asks TPS to at least increase the percent of students who score basic or above from the current 41% to 46% (a 5% increase, 773 students) and asks TPS to shoot for 50% (a 9% increase, 1,391 students).
Note that when TPS reaches the 50% level that means that 50% of the students remain at the “below basic” or below grade level. Also note that “basic” does not mean that a student has mastered the requirements of the grade level tested. As TPS Interim Superintendent Johnson frequently says, “We have a lot of work to do.”
