Assessment and Accountability Update

March 5, 2026

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GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

District Test Coordinator (DTC) Webinar Series (REPEAT)

ODE presents the monthly DTC Webinar on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, from 10:00-11:00 AM. To attend, please register for each webinar using this Zoom link. This will give you the option to add the appointment to your calendar. After the webinar, a link for the recording will be available upon request. If you have questions you’d like answered during the webinar’s Q&A session, please submit them through this Smartsheet form.

If you need an interpreter or accommodation to participate in this or future webinars, please contact Crys Plattner, Assessment Administrative Support.

If you have questions, please email ODE Assessment Team.

March Reporting System Webinar (REPEAT)

The March Live Centralized Reporting System (CRS) Webinar will take place on Thursday, March 19, 2025, from 9:00-10:00 AM. Please register here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The focus of this webinar is on Summative Reporting. A recording of the webinar will be available on the OSAS Portal after the session.

If you need an interpreter or an accommodation to participate in this or future webinars, please contact Crys Plattner, Assessment Administrative Support.

If you have questions, please email ODE Assessment Team.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

2025-2026 OSAS Statewide Summative Test Spring Window

The Oregon Assessment Administration Schedule details the opening and closing of test windows, some of which occur in March and April.

The test window for the statewide summative content assessments applies to all versions of the tests: online General (in-person and remote) and Alternate (Oregon Extended; in-person only).

• The statewide administration window for the OSAS Science Tests in grades 5 and 8 is open as of March 3, 2026.
• The statewide administration window for the remote English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA) Summative Test is open as of March 3, 2026.
• The statewide administration window for the Future K ELPA Screener is open as of March 3, 2026.
• The statewide administration window for the OSAS English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics Tests in grades 3 - 8 opens on March 31, 2026.

As a reminder, prior to beginning a test session, verify that appropriate student accommodations and supports have been accurately set in TIDE. See the Oregon Accessibility Manual for more information about accommodations and supports.

Please contact your District Testing Coordinator or Regional ESD Partner with any questions regarding test administration.

Recruitment: Tools for Teacher 2026 Spring State Network of Educators (SNE) Workshop (REPEAT)

We are excited to announce the Oregon Department of Education’s (ODE’s) Spring State Network of Educators (SNE) Workshop in partnership with Smarter Balanced and other educators across the Smarter Balanced consortium. Additionally, for educators who aren't able to attend a spring workshop, please know that we will also plan a virtual summer workshop.

The SNE Workshop is scheduled to be a virtual event that provides educators with a collaborative opportunity to deepen their understanding of the formative assessment process and develop ELA and math instructional resources for Tools for Teachers. Learn more about Tools for Teachers in this YouTube video.

As in past events, educators will create instructional resources for grades 3 - 8 and high school, aligned with the Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) assessment targets. Educators will receive a payment of $300 for each accepted resource they write.

Additional Opportunity for Educators with K - 2 Experience:

New this year: to expand available instructional resources beyond grades 3 - high school, this spring’s SNE workshop will resume developing supports for kindergarten through grade 2. These lesson plans will follow the existing Tools for Teachers format, including embedded formative assessment and accessibility strategies. ODE is seeking educators with strong expertise in early grade-level expectations and who have direct experience supporting the unique needs of young learners.

ODE would greatly appreciate your help by submitting names for consideration to be included in this collaborative project.

For further details or to submit the names of educators, please contact either Tony Bertrand, ELA and Social Sciences Assessment Specialist, or Sody Fearn, K-2 Balanced Assessment Specialist.

ELPA

ACCOUNTABILITY & REPORTING

ARAC Recruitment Announcement

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is seeking applicants to fill two vacancies on the Accountability Reporting Advisory Committee (ARAC). The ARAC is a committee defined in rule (i.e., OAR 581-002-0090) and provides guidance and recommendations to ODE concerning accountability policies, procedures, and methodologies as well as school and district appeals of accountability data that appear on the ESSA Accountability Detail Sheets, At-A-Glance School and District Profiles, and Online Report Card. The committee consists of individuals from educational institutions representing communities across the state of Oregon.

The ARAC meets quarterly with three virtual meetings and one in-person meeting; however, the ODE occasionally schedules additional meetings when necessary. The length of the virtual meetings is 2 to 4 hours, while the in-person meetings are typically 6 to 8 hours and occur in Salem in August (travel reimbursement is available).

Interested applicants should have knowledge and experience in one or more of the following areas:

• School and district accountability
• Public data reporting for a non-technical audience
• Data collection and validation
• Interpreting assessment or other accountability data
• Research, analysis, and program evaluation

The ODE has a strong commitment to equity and cultural diversity; thus, we encourage individuals with diverse cultural perspectives and experiences to apply. Interested applicants will need to complete a brief online questionnaire.

If interested, please complete the online questionnaire by Friday, March 27, 2026.

If you have any questions or issues completing the online application, please contact Elyse Bean, Research Analyst.

Staff Validations Web Training: March 12, 2026

The Staff Validations (Staff FTE, Staff Ethnicity, and Staff Retention and Experience) Web Training will be held on March 12, 2026, at 2:00 PM. The training can be accessed by going to the District Training page. The Staff Validation window will open on March 26, 2026, at 1:00 PM and will remain open through April 27, 2026. For more information, please see the Staff Validation Guidance document on the Staff Position Collection page. If you have any questions, please contact your Regional ESD Partners or Ryan Clark, Research Analyst.

2025-26 ESSA Accountability Details - Average Gap Score Change Years of Data Used (REPEAT)

The years of data used for the English Language Arts and Math Average Gap score change indicators will be updated for the 2025-26 run of the ESSA Accountability Details. This coming summer, the indicators will use assessment data from 2024-25 and 2025-26 compared to assessment data from 2022-23 and 2023-24 to calculate the Average Gap Score Change.

For questions, please contact Elyse Bean, Research Analyst.

ELPA Summative and Alt ELPA Batch 1 Scores

English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA) scores from January 2026 (Batch 1) are available in the Assessment Record Updating Application (ARUA) on the ODE secure district website and also in the Centralized Reporting System (CRS) on the OSAS Portal as of Tuesday, March 17.

Test scores for students participating in Honoring Student Proficiency on the ELPA Summative and Alt ELPA will be finalized as of Tuesday, March 17. As a reminder, this means that a student’s Proficient performance on one or more domains from a prior year will be inserted into this year’s test, and the scores for all non-exempted domains will be recalculated using that Proficient performance. Please note that scores appearing in the Centralized Reporting System (accessed through the state portal) are unofficial and will not update with final scores due to carried domains. Decisions about retaining or exiting English learner status should be made based on finalized score reports found in official ODE data applications such as AWE and Secure Assessment Reports.

District Test Coordinators may download or review records in the ARUA to edit accommodation or administration codes (see the Test Administration Manual, Appendix C). If you have questions or need assistance with your assessment data, please contact your Regional ESD Partner.

OSAS Summative Results Available

Scores for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics Summative tests will be available beginning Tuesday, March 17 in the Assessment Record Updating Application (ARUA), the Accountability Warehouse Extract (AWE), and the Secure Assessment Reports 2.0 (SAR) application and in the Centralized Reporting System (CRS) on the OSAS Portal. ELA and Math scores are available within approximately ten business days of completion of the hand-scored portion of the test. Please note that there is a one-day lag for changes to test records in the ARUA (district edits or newly loaded records) to be available in the AWE and SAR applications.

Please contact your Regional ESD Partner for more information or for assistance accessing assessment records.