Students in Clatsop County and across Oregon are still struggling to recover from pandemic-era learning loss, according to the latest Oregon State Assessment System scores.

The state Department of Education released results for all school districts on Oct. 3. Students in third-through-eighth grades and in 11th grade are tested each spring in math and language arts, although testing was waived for two years during the coronavirus pandemic. Students in fifth, eighth and 11th grades are tested in science.

Statewide, 42.5% of all students demonstrated proficiency in language arts, compared to 43% the previous year. Math scores saw a slight boost, with 31% of all students showing proficiency, up from 30.6% the previous year. In science, 29.3% were proficient, holding steady from 29.4% the previous year.

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.

Scores in most Clatsop County school districts stubbornly hover below state averages in language arts, math and science, though county superintendents stress that the results — given that the state allows students to opt out of testing — are not the most accurate reflection of student performance.

Astoria

Like much of the state, the Astoria School District saw a decline in the percentage of students who demonstrated proficiency in language arts. In the 2022-2023 school year, Astoria’s scores were on par with state averages, with 43.1% proficient.

For the 2023-2024 school year, that number dipped to 37.5% — 5 percentage points below the state average.

Math scores held steady, with 24.6% showing proficiency, up slightly from 24.3% the previous year. That number still remains significantly below the 36.7% of students who demonstrated math proficiency in 2019, the last testing date prior to the pandemic.

In science, 26.9% of students were proficient, compared to 23.4% the previous year.

Sheila Roley, who is serving as the school district’s interim superintendent, noted that a significant number of students, especially at the high school level, opted out of testing. Only 60.1% of 11th graders were tested in language arts, and just 51.1% were tested in math.

“We would have liked to see some more growth than we saw from last year’s scores,” Roley said. “I think a couple of factors to keep in mind is that the state assessment is something that students can be opted out of. And if parents don’t wish to have their kids participate, then you’re looking at kind of a compromised subset of students.”

Warrenton

The Warrenton-Hammond School District held steady or saw modest improvements in all areas, but still lags behind other districts and state averages.

In language arts, 33.4% of students demonstrated proficiency, on par with 33.6% the previous year.

The percentage of students proficient in math increased to 22.1% from 18.4% the previous year, but still significantly below the 37.2% of students who scored a three or four in 2019.

Superintendent Tom Rogozinski said that the school district, along with others in the county, is placing special emphasis on improving math performance by updating teaching practices.

“(Math) doesn’t get as much attention politically (as literacy instruction),” he said. “And yet, this year in our county — we have county superintendent meetings — we have chosen to focus on math instruction.”

In science, 27.4% of students demonstrated proficiency, up from 21.5% the previous year.

Rogozinski also emphasized that Warrenton is looking at factors such as chronic absenteeism and student homelessness, which can influence testing results.

“We’re able to track data pretty well now — the students that are least likely to attend regularly are the least likely to be successful in meeting proficiency standards,” he said. “So that’s a big one. No matter how robust our instruction is, we need the students here to partake in it and engage with it.”

Seaside

In Seaside, 39% of students demonstrated proficiency in language arts, higher than any other school district in the county but still below the state average and the previous year’s rate of 41.4%.

Math scores saw a slight increase, with 22.8% of students proficient, up from 21.5% the previous year, but Susan Penrod, the superintendent, said the school district is hoping that the implementation of a new math curriculum this year will boost those scores further.

“We did a lot of research on the most effective math curriculum and to be able to provide the training for our staff, not only on a specific curriculum, but instructional strategies,” she said. “We’re just continuing to work really hard on that.”

In science, 21.3% of students demonstrated proficiency, down from 26.5% last year.

Penrod was skeptical of the results given students’ ability to opt out.

“Anytime there is an assessment that allows students to opt out, your data is going to be skewed … We’re finding (in-class) assessments to be a lot more accurate because it tests all students,” she said.

Knappa

The Knappa School District has the lowest percentage of students demonstrating proficiency in all subjects, with 28.7% proficient in language arts — down from 34.6% the previous year — and just 16.3% in math, down slightly from 16.9% the previous year.

In science, 9.2% of students demonstrated proficiency, down from 14.9% the previous year.

Superintendent Bill Fritz cautioned against drawing conclusions from these scores, noting, like Penrod, that the school district places higher value on in-class metrics.

“We’re obviously creating a plan to try to improve, but we use multiple data points to measure student success, and we’re just concerned that with that particular exam, it’s not showing at this point,” he said.

Jewell

Jewell School District, the smallest school district in the county, saw the highest percentage of students proficient in language arts and science, with 43.6% proficient in language arts — up from 41.1% the previous year, the only district to see an increase — and 54.5% proficient in science, up from 42.3% the previous year.

In math, 23.7% of students demonstrated proficiency, up from 16.7% the previous year.

Superintendent Cory Pederson could not immediately be reached for comment.