Oklahoma school rankings skewed due to OSDE’s denial of data access

The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) is under fire after failing to provide U.S. News and World Report with access to schools’ AP testing data, resulting in a significant drop in rankings for many Oklahoma schools over the past two years.

According to OSDE, they claim to have sent the data but it must have been lost in the mail. This omission of data has had a major impact on larger, suburban high schools, causing them to plummet in the rankings while smaller, rural schools have seen an increase in their rankings.

Superintendents from various districts across Oklahoma have expressed their concerns about the skewed data and the potential negative effects it may have on communities statewide. Families and businesses often rely on the U.S. News rankings to determine the quality of schools in a particular district when deciding where to move.

The recent release of the 2024 rankings revealed a significant shift in the top-ranked schools compared to previous years. Many schools that were once at the top of the list have now fallen significantly in the rankings due to the lack of access to AP testing data.

U.S. News stated that the denial of access to AP data from OSDE has impacted the schools’ “college readiness” scores, which account for 30% of the overall ranking. This decision has raised questions about the transparency and accountability of OSDE in providing accurate data for school rankings.

School leaders are calling for answers and transparency from OSDE to rectify the situation and ensure that schools are accurately represented in future rankings. The impact of this data omission goes beyond just school rankings and could potentially affect students’ college admissions and scholarship opportunities.