OVERSIGHT BOARD RELEASES SCHOOL REPORT CARDS, DISTRICT REPORTS, AND COMMENDS 286 SCHOOLS; NEWLY RELEASED 2000 CENSUS DATA INCLUDED ON SCHOOL REPORT CARDS Contact: Robert Buswell     (405) 522-4578 May 9, 2003   OKLAHOMA CITY - In a release today of the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program's "School Report Cards," the Education Oversight Board commended 286 schools for successfully reaching the board's 70% Performance Benchmark for standardized testing during the 2001-2002 school year. "To make the list, a school must have 70% or more of their students scoring at least "Satisfactory" in all subject areas of the Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests," said Pete Churchwell, Chairman of the Education Oversight Board. The state-mandated tests are administered in fifth and eighth grade and include Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Geography, the Arts, and U.S. History, Constitution and Government. High school students were tested for the second year using the End-of-Instruction exams for English II and U.S. History. The current list of acclaimed schools includes 156 elementary schools, 15 middle school/junior high sites, and 115 high schools. "Fifty-one of these elementary schools have achieved the benchmark for six consecutive years and this year has seen across-the-board increases in the number of schools achieving our benchmark," indicated Churchwell. "These report cards contain a wealth of information that should be of great interest to parents, patrons, school administrators and teachers, policy makers, grant writers, and researchers," said State Senator Penny Williams, board member and Chair of the Senate Education Committee. "The schools meeting the board's benchmark should receive high praise, especially those that have reached the goal for several years running. These schools have consistently provided superior educational programs to the students in their communities." "The Office of Accountability prepares the annual reports for the board at three levels; state, district, and school," explained Churchwell. "Together, they provide over 100 statistics regarding the curriculum, programs, budget, student performance, and community characteristics of Oklahoma's public schools. This is the most comprehensive, consistent, and accurate reference source for Oklahoma educational statistics that exist. During the past eight years over four million report cards have been distributed to parents through the Educational Indicators Program. These School Report Cards are valuable tools for educational stakeholders and the Office of Accountability should be commended for its fine work." "We were particularly pleased to have the latest federal census data available in time for these reports, said Robert Buswell, Executive Director of the Office of Accountability. "For states like Oklahoma where school district boundaries don't necessarily match municipal or county boundaries this is a once-in-a-ten-year chance to see census data that specifically matches the district. This information gives unique insight into the demographic and socioeconomic situation within every school district across Oklahoma." "The Office of Accountability serves as a clearinghouse for education data and we share information with anyone that requests it," explained Buswell. "The office has become the "One-Stop-Shop" for educational statistics. Grant writers use our material extensively and bring millions of additional dollars to Oklahoma public schools. With the addition of 2001-2002's information there will be six year's worth of Educational Indicator data available on our web site and we have had over 250,000 school report cards downloaded since we began the site. We are very pleased with the way the program has been received and believe its success is the result of delivering high quality information and providing superior customer service." School Report Cards and District Reports are available on-line at www.SchoolReportCard.org. The State Report and District Reports are also deposited in public, military, and college libraries across Oklahoma. The report cards are printed and mailed to principals each spring in order that they may distribute copies to parents and patrons by the end of the school year. For more information about the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program or "Profiles 2002," contact the Office of Accountability at (405) 522-4578 or visit www.SchoolReportCard.org. --###-- Two lists of "Schools Meeting 70% Performance Benchmark in all Subject Areas Tested for 2001-2002 School Year by Grade" have been included with this release, one reports schools by county and district name, the other reports schools by grade tested and number of consecutive years meeting the benchmark.