The Oregon Journalism Project recently sunk its teeth into the debate about local vs. state control over literacy instruction in schools. 

One major issue with the state assessment data in Oregon is that parents have been able to opt their children out of the tests for about a decade. Oregon is one of only two states to allow opt-outs like the one in Oregon, and one of only eight that don't meet the federal requirement of testing at least 95% of students. 

Northwest Regional Education Service District Superintendent Dan Goldman says not being able to assess educational progress is "a fundamental flaw, maybe a fatal flaw, in the state of Oregon. We have denigrated and set a really negative culture around assessment.”

“It’s like only taking half of your doctor’s recommendation for treatment, and then blaming the doctor for not getting better.”

Read the full story: Leaving It Up to the Locals Impedes Oregon’s Much-Needed Reading Recovery.