Proficiency scores on core subjects took a dip at most school districts in Clatsop County in the first round of statewide testing since the coronavirus pandemic.

Results from the Smarter Balanced assessment were released on Sept. 25 by the Oregon Department of Education. Testing focused on English language arts, math and science.

The evaluations were administered every spring across third-through-eighth graders and 11th graders until the pandemic led to widespread disruptions to schools.

Following two years of testing waivers in Oregon, the assessment resumed this past spring.

The Seaside School District also fell below the state averages and their own data from 2019. The data showed the district had 35% of students test proficiently in English, while 20% did in math and 24% did in science. The decreases were six to nine percentage points below pre-pandemic data.

The data showed that in the Astoria School District, 47% of students tested were proficient in English, while the scores were significantly lower in math, with 27% of students tested showing proficiency. In science, 30% of the students tested were proficient in the subject matter. The figures all showed declines of five to 10 percentage points from pre-pandemic data.

The results closely mirrored averages among all school districts in the state, as 44% of students who tested showed proficiency in English, while proficiency in math and science was around 30%.

The state considers a proficient score as receiving a level three or four on the assessment, which is meant to track college and career readiness.

In the Warrenton-Hammond School District, the figures were both well below state averages and the district’s data from 2019.

Among participating students, 33% showed proficiency in English, while 19% did in math and 22% did in science. Within the county, the school district had the biggest decrease since 2019 in English — 15 percentage points — and math — 18 percentage points.

The Knappa School District, despite having averages still well below the state average, showed slight increases in all three subjects. The school district had 28% of participating students show proficiency in English, with 18% in math and 21% in science.

Knappa Superintendent Bill Fritz partially attributed the jumps in proficiency to the school district’s ability to maintain in-person learning throughout the pandemic. But while the small increases are encouraging, he said, the school district is still not satisfied with the figures.

“We’re just continuing to train our teachers and we obviously have great goals for our kids and want to keep moving forward,” he said.

Fritz noted that the results are only one measurement of student progress and that tests, while important, are not great indicators of creativity, work ethic, perseverance and other important life skills.

“We’re always trying to improve, so any source of data is important to us,” he said. “It’s one piece, but it’s an important piece because it’s measuring what we do in student achievement.”

The Jewell School District had some of the strongest increases in proficiency in the county. The rural school district’s students showed a 59% proficiency in English — an increase of 17 percentage points from 2019 — and a 24% proficiency in math — a jump of 2 percentage points. In science, 42% of students displayed proficiency, which was a slight decrease from the most recent data.

Outside of Jewell, which had small jumps in engagement, schools in the county also saw significant decreases to participation rates in the assessment, which is required under law unless a parent files an exception.

The Warrenton-Hammond School District had the largest decline in participation rates, including a drop of 44 percentage points in the science assessment. The lower participation figures, which also mirrored state data, was an area of concern in Knappa as well, Fritz said.

With scores down significantly all across Oregon, Colt Gill, the director of the state Department of Education, called the results a “call to action” to continue advancing programs that meet students’ needs.

“We have already seen assessment scores rising for students who have had more time back in onsite learning,” he said in a statement. “With the right support, caring educators and deep partnerships with families and community, our students will thrive.”