State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Friday in a media release, the transformative shift in Oklahoma’s approach to student assessment, marking the end of traditional statewide summative assessments (testing).
Beginning in the 2025–2026 school year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education will allow districts to use approved benchmark assessments in place of the current high-stakes end-of-year tests for grades 3–8 in Math and English Language Arts.
On Monday, August 4, 2025, Second Lady Usha Vance traveled to Houston, Texas, where she visited with over two hundred Space Center Houston “Space Campers” and children of NASA employees for a day filled with out-of-this-world activities, reading, and adventure.
Ms. Vance was joined by astronaut Suni Williams. Together, they read Margaret and the Moon to highlight the Second Lady’s Summer Reading Challenge and the science behind space travel.
Editor’s Notes: The following investigative work detailing the disgrace of the OKC based NonDoc.com was first published on Substack and is published here with permission by the author. Further, in a release Sunday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Oklahoma State Department of Education wrote:
As I lead the charge for a bold overhaul of education in Oklahoma, putting parents back in control, rejecting radical agendas, and demanding excellence: it’s no surprise to face politically motivated attacks.
Any suggestion that a device of mine was used to stream inappropriate content on the television set is categorically false. I have no knowledge of what was on the TV screen during the alleged incident, and there is absolutely no truth to any implication of wrongdoing.
These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change. They aren’t just attacking me, they’re attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo.
I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category.
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Jonathan Small, President of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, spoke to the McGrath Breakfast Group on Saturday with a chilling message.
Small said, “Nearly 75 percent of students across any grade you might pick in Oklahoma, have not achieved reading proficiency. While taxpayers spend about $15,000.00 per student per year, achievement has continued to fall.
“When I say, ‘not proficient’ that means the student cannot take a book written for their grade level, read it, comprehend it on their own and understand it,” Small declared.
Updated: According to a story by Clarise Tujardon ’26 published Friday, July 18, on Campus Reform, “the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman continues to provide services for illegal alien students through its admissions and financial aid processes” the Texas Correspondent wrote.
On its web page, OU’s Undocumented Admissions describes itself as a “safe place” and a “source of information and guidance” for illegal immigrants on how to apply to the university. It includes step-by-step instructions on application routes, tuition eligibility, and financial aid status.
“In the Office of Admissions and Recruitment, we do our best to find and provide the resources to better serve undocumented and DACA students as they are students who work hard to pursue their education and deserve access to higher education and become members of the OU family,” the website reads. “This is a safe place.”
