The Oregon Department of Education’s Implementation of Selected Components of Oregon’s Statewide Accountability System

The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) implemented selected components of its statewide accountability system in the fall of 2022 based on data for school year 2021–2022. We found that ODE implemented the indicators used to measure student academic achievement and school success, applied a system of annual meaningful differentiation, and identified public schools as needing additional support and improvement in the fall of 2022 in accordance with Oregon’s approved State plan and amendment and ODE’s policies and procedures. We also found that ODE allocated additional funding to local educational agencies (LEAs) with schools identified in the fall of 2022 as needing additional support based on data for school year 2021. Although ODE implemented the selected components of the statewide accountability system in accordance with Oregon’s State plan, it did not identify one school that should have been identified for additional support and. Additionally, ODE did not provide additional funding to one LEA with three schools that it identified as needing additional support. Finally, ODE did not keep records showing how it calculated the amount of Title I funds reserved under section 1003 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that each LEA should receive or records showing that it provided additional support services, such as ongoing professional learning and networking, technical assistance, and coaching, to LEAs with schools that it identified as needing improvement. We recommend that the U.S. Department of Education verify that ODE provided additional funding, support services, or both, to the LEAs that should have received them; designed and implemented policies and procedures for calculating the amount of reserved Title I funds to allocate to LEAs with schools identified as needing additional support; and is keeping records showing how it is calculating the amount of funds provided to each LEA and showing that it is delivering the additional support services that it promised the LEAs and schools.