By most measures, Salem’s public school students don’t perform well on standardized tests.
Superintendent Andrea Castañeda thinks it’s because we’re asking them the wrong questions.
During a speech Monday in front of local business leaders at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, Castañeda shared sample questions from the state’s annual math assessment for 11th graders. Just 12% of Salem-Keizer juniors in 2023 were deemed “proficient” in math.
“Click on the region of the graph that contains the solution set of the system of linear inequalities,” the question reads, before giving two equations.
The room was quiet, with many of the over 100 attendees visibly struggling to remember their own high school math classes.
Castañeda said in a world where knowledge is at the tip of our fingers, she’s not convinced closed-book, high-stakes tests or expanding requirements for specific classes are the best way to get kids ready for college or the workforce.
“We do still treat this as what kids need to know. I don’t know that that’s true, not with the pace that things are changing,” she said.
Castañeda spoke alongside Jesse Peters, president of Western Oregon University, and Jessica Howard, president of Chemeketa Community College, about the future of public education in the region.
Demonstrating “proficiency” in math, English and other essential skills was required to earn an Oregon high school diploma until a pandemic suspension. Legislators paused the requirement for the class of 2022 until 2028 and ordered a review of the state’s graduation requirements.
About 80% of Salem-Keizer students graduate high school in four years, slightly lower than the state average.
Oregon requires 24 credits to graduate high school, with 18 of those credits required in specific subjects like language arts, math and science. That’s more credits than most U.S. states require for a diploma.
The Class of 2026 will be Oregon’s first to have an added civics credit requirement. A stand-alone financial literacy course will be added for the Class of 2027, currently high school sophomores.
While she didn’t address those new courses specifically, Castañeda cautioned against the impulse to add ever-more requirements onto schools.
“Does adding more content make a better diploma… (make) a person who’s ready for your institution, a person that’s ready to be a member of your workforce? Sometimes yes, sometimes no,” Castañeda asked the room of local leaders. But “every time we add, we take away flexibility, because that’s one more thing that a kid has to do, instead of something that he or she may love to do.”
The issue of what’s expected of schools is a focus for district leaders this year. With Castañeda’s backing, the Salem-Keizer School Board on Tuesday adopted a list of state policy goals that included asking legislators to stop creating new grant programs and unfunded mandates and focus broadly on better funding schools to do the work they already do.
District leaders have also indicated this year they will prioritize improving the share of elementary school students who can read proficiently, and regular attendance.
Castañeda touted the district’s career and technical education options, which include a variety of programs at every district high school alongside the Career Technical Education Center, a hub offering 10 programs for juniors and seniors taught by industry experts.
Students who complete a career technical education program or course have among the highest graduation rates in the district.
And Castañeda said she and other district leaders need to do more to share what’s going well in the district.
“We have to win by focusing. We have to do less. We have to eliminate barriers and distractions and just teach,” she said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
