Tulsa Public Schools is dropping one of its standardized tests next year to reduce testing time and focus on meaningful grade-level teaching.
The nationally standardized MAP Growth assessments have been a staple of the TPS testing schedule for a decade. They are administered three times a year to track the growth of kindergarten to eighth grade students in reading and math. Now, the district will use an “existing set of assessment tools” three times a year instead.
Superintendent Ebony Johnson announced the district’s decision Thursday. The TPS school year begins Aug. 19.
“We believe we can better utilize that testing time to teach and re-teach standards with the help of an assessment tool that best serves students and better supports instructional planning,” Johnson wrote in a letter to families.
The district declined to answer questions Friday about what screening tools the district will use in place of these tests, how long the district has been considering the decision or how the district will continue to track and report its strategic goals through May 2027 without this data.
“Our teams are in the process now of codifying how these changes will show up in the coming year,” said district spokesman Kyle Boone in response to the Flyer’s questions Friday.
Johnson’s letter says the switch is aimed at providing better feedback to teachers that’s more aligned with Oklahoma Academic Standards and reducing the testing burden on students. The district also pledged “improved opportunities for family support” and easier communication with a new screening system.
TPS will continue to administer mandatory state standardized tests for third through eighth graders with the Oklahoma School Testing Program.
The district has projected student performance for years using MAP data as an early warning system for students before spring testing. TPS also tracks those projections in regular board reports.
The district is not keeping pace with two board targets for student performance on the statewide testing program, even though it’s seen consistent improvement in raw reading scores in recent years.
In June board reports, 39% of third through fifth graders were projected to score basic or above in this year’s statewide testing program. The district’s target is to have 51% of those students score basic or above by May 2027. For sixth through eighth graders, that projection was also 39% with a target of 54% by next May.
The district last renewed its agreement with the publishing company that licenses MAP Growth assessments in May 2025. The cost of testing licenses and professional development for kindergarten to 10th grade MAP testing was budgeted up to $395,298 for the 2025-26 school year.
MAP testing is also used when evaluating students for magnet school placement at TPS.
The district will provide an update to the requirements for its magnet programs soon, Johnson said, “to ensure those families participating in the magnet enrollment process have clear and consistent information throughout the transition.”
Families with questions are encouraged to reach out to their school principal.
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