Oklahoma’s 2026 public-school report cards show contrasting outcomes in the Oklahoma City area: eight of Oklahoma City Public Schools’ 10 high schools received a D or F, while every Edmond Public Schools high school earned a B. About 70% of OKCPS schools improved their overall scores from the previous year, according to News 9. The Oklahoma State Department of Education issued grades for 1,750 schools, up from 1,724 the year before, the station reported.
Statewide, 64% of schools earned an A, B or C, and 24 fewer schools received a D and 10 fewer received an F than the prior year, Oklahoma Voice reported. But improved school grades do not mean most students are proficient: this year, 26% tested proficient or better in English language arts, 25% in math and 30% in science, according to News 9. The state received a D for academic achievement and a C for academic growth, which measures progress from one year to the next.
Attendance remains a separate challenge
The report cards also gave Oklahoma a D for chronic absenteeism. As longer-term context, Oklahoma Voice reported that state report-card data showed 81% of public-school students were in good attendance in 2024-25, compared with 86% in 2018-19. Those attendance figures cover earlier school years and are not the same measure as this year’s report-card grade; they do not establish what caused the current result.
Oklahoma has asked the U.S. Department of Education to approve a change to how chronic absenteeism affects school grades: instead of counting it as a flat 10-point indicator, schools could receive bonus points for improving attendance. The state was still awaiting a decision, and the change was expected to begin in 2026-27 if approved, News 9 reported.
Graduation results also pulled down the state’s marks. Oklahoma’s four-year graduation rate fell from 82.2% for the class of 2024 to 77.6% for the class of 2025. State officials attributed much of the drop to a federal reporting change that excludes graduates with core curriculum diplomas from the calculation, News 9 reported.
